Encryptions and Curses
by RussetDivinity
Summary: While trying to repair a robot mouse, Kat finds a mysterious ring tucked inside a small drawer. When she shows it to Annie, they learn that it is an artifact of incredible evil from deep within the forest. The two girls, accompanied by others from the Court, go to destroy it, but the forest is full of danger, and not all of them will return alive.
1. Gunnerkrigg Court: Jones

Katerina Donlan, called Kat by her friends, was most often found in her lab. It was a nice little place, very cozy as labs went, and full of nifty little gadgets that could do all sorts of things. Lately, the gadgets had been replaced by robot parts, but there were still a few little things tossed into odd corners. They were old projects that she was determined to return to someday, but she simply hadn't found the time to do so, and when she did have the time, she was with her friends. She couldn't just push her friends away to work on old projects, so she tended to leave them forgotten and gathering dust.

It was a beautiful day, or so Kat assumed from the conversations she overheard. She kept the door to her lab closed most of the time – Annie and Paz knew they were always welcome, but she didn't want just anyone barging in – but it wasn't thick enough to be soundproof. If there was anything she wanted to be unheard in her lab, she had to speak quietly, but the people passing by either didn't know there was someone who could hear them or didn't care whether they were overheard, so Kat heard snippets of conversation, along with heavy footsteps and laughter.

"I've never seen a sky that blue!"

"Do you want to see how far we can sneak down the bridge this time?"

"A friend of mine's found a new way up to the roof! No, you don't know him, but he's really cool."

She didn't mind all the noise. It was almost enjoyable, in a strange way. She liked to be reminded that there was still life outside. It kept her from spending her days locked away inside, and sometimes she heard Annie and Paz approaching before they arrived. That always made her stomach leap with excitement, and it was even better than them surprising her.

It was a beautiful day, Kat realized as she glanced at the window. There was just one in the lab, but one was plenty. It let in sunlight in case one of her projects needed to be charged before it could work, and she could tell what the weather was like, or if she had stayed there too long and needed to get some sleep. (It was surprising how difficult it could be to tell whether she was tired if she had been working for a long time.) The sky, as the girl had said, was a brilliant blue, with only a few cirrus clouds far away. The sun wasn't shining directly in the window, but the light it gave off was still enough that she didn't need any of the electric lights unless she wanted to go into one of the corners. There was no need to, though; everything she needed was right in front of her.

Today's work wasn't all that difficult; she was just repairing a bit of circuitry in a robotic mouse. According to its friend, it had been acting rather strangely, and though she wasn't sure what could have caused it, something had indeed gone wrong with the wiring. She'd thought it had been perfectly fine the last time she checked, and once it was repaired, she would have to ask what was wrong. In the meantime, she just wanted to make sure it was all right.

She hummed as she worked, and it wasn't long before the wiring problem was sorted out. The mouse did need a few replacement parts, and Kat added a few extra pieces of protection to make sure it wouldn't short out, or at least that if it did, it would be able to get to a place where it could ask for help instead of waiting for someone to rescue it. Once it was all put back together, she set the mouse in the window for the sunlight to charge it and, while she waited, checked her hair in the reflective surface of a spare bit of metal. She had a date with Paz later that night, and she wanted to look nice for it instead of looking like she had crawled out of the lab only five minutes before.

The fact that she might well crawl out of the lab only five minutes before the date was beside the point.

Her hair looked fine, or as fine as short hair looked anyway. It could probably use a bit of a comb, and perhaps it was time she washed it, but it would do for a date. Besides, there was a comb tucked in one of the cupboards, just in case.

The mouse still hadn't finished charging, so Kat wandered around the lab, trying to find something else to do while she waited. There weren't any other projects waiting for her, and she could easily slip out for a walk, but she didn't want to abandon the mouse. If it woke up and found itself alone, it would likely be frightened, and it was a sweet little thing. In the end, she settled on sorting through her screws to make sure they were all in the right drawers for their sizes.

They were, and so were the wires, and so were the batteries. Even though she wasn't terribly thorough in her search, Kat had enough small things that needed to be sorted according to size that she hadn't finished when the mouse whirred, letting her know that it was active. Closing the drawer she had been working on, she raced to stand beside it.

"Angel?" it asked, its little green eyes alight. Kat grinned as warmth rose up her cheeks. She still wasn't quite used to being called an angel by the various robots of the school, even if she wasn't quite as flustered by it as she had been.

"It's me," she said, holding out a hand. The mouse scurried off the windowsill, and she carried it to a worktable. "Are you all right? You looked like you were falling apart inside."

"I was always broken," the mouse said.

A chill ran down Kat's spine, as though the blue sky outside had suddenly been replaced by fog and the summer weather by autumn. "What do you mean?" she asked.

"I was always broken," the mouse said again, and again Kat felt that chill run down her spine. When she glanced out the window, the sun was shining as brightly as ever, but a sense of foreboding had taken hold of her and would not leave.

"How were you broken?" she asked.

"By the ones who came before."

It was almost an answer, but not quite enough of one to satisfy Kat. She wanted a proper answer, not a riddle to solve. "Who came before?"

The mouse hummed, and it shook so violently that Kat was afraid it would break despite the little protections she had put into it. After several seconds – that felt like much longer – it stilled but did not answer her.

Kat sighed. She hated when this happened. Something was wrong with her robots, and she had to find a way to help them, but she didn't even know where to begin. "All right. So you can't tell me who came before. Is there anything you can say? I can't help you unless I know something."

"I was always broken," the mouse said, then it hummed again. "You have helped me. You put me back together."

"So you're not broken anymore?"

"I am always broken."

Kat buried her face in her hands and muttered a Romani curse that she had overheard from her mother. There wasn't any time to ask another question, however, since just then she heard a knock on the door. A moment later, the knock was repeated, and Kat hurried to answer it, calling out, "Just a moment!"

She hadn't known who to expect, only that it couldn't be Annie or Paz. They knew that they didn't have to knock, since Kat only bothered to lock the door after she left, and even then, she wasn't sure she had to. Her lab was tiny, and most of the things in it were things that only she would really be able to use. Most people around the school didn't even know it was her lab; it was just a tiny room with nothing really interesting in it. She'd even been considering getting a sign to say so, but Annie had told her that it wouldn't work as well as leaving it unlabeled.

Kat pulled open the door, and anything she might have been about to say faded from her mind when she saw Jones standing in the hall. The woman looked as unruffled as ever, and she gave Kat an impassive look before asking, "May I come in, Miss Donlan?"

"Sure," Kat said, stepping aside so Jones could enter. She closed the door and asked, "Is there anything I can do for you?"

Jones looked around the room once before asking, "Is this your lab?"

"Yeah," Kat said. "I use it for personal experiments." She was sure she wasn't technically supposed to have it, but no one had tried to stop her from using it, and she didn't think Jones was there to keep her from breaking any rules.

"I see. Have you been working on anything interesting lately?"

"Nothing too interesting," Kat said, hoping Jones didn't have some kind of lie detecting ability. "Just various things here and there. A couple projects that aren't going anywhere yet."

Jones glanced at her, and in that glance, Kat thought she saw that Jones knew she was lying. It was impossible to read any expression on the woman's face, but something prickled at the back of Kat's neck, and she was sure she knew, even if she had no proof. "Is it all right if I look around?" Jones asked.

"Sure," Kat said. "Is there anything I can help you find?"

"I hope not."

Leaving Kat to figure out what to make of that statement, Jones began walking through the lab. She glanced over some papers that Kat had left out and peeked into a few drawers, but never for very long, and she never disturbed any of the contents. Once Jones's back was to her, Kat glanced at the table and saw that the mouse was gone. It was probably in hiding somewhere, for which she was glad. She wasn't sure what kind of explanation she would give for a robot mouse just sitting around her lab among various innocuous schoolgirl experiments.

Jones's search lasted for less than half an hour before she returned to Kat. "Have you ever looked inside those old drawers back there?" she asked.

"What do you mean?" Kat asked. "The ones I use to keep stuff from years ago? Not really." She didn't like to be reminded of the various embarrassing mistakes she'd made, and so far she hadn't really found a way to get rid of them. She supposed she could donate them to another lab and see if any of the younger students could make anything of them.

"I see." Jones walked to the door, and before Kat could ask what she had meant or why she had even been asking, she was gone, and Kat was alone.

The day was getting stranger and stranger, with no signs of stopping. With a sigh, Kat looked around the lab. There was still no sign of the mouse, and she couldn't even tell where it might have got to. It had left no disturbances, and when she wandered around a little, she couldn't pick up a trace of it. "Hello?" she called. "Mouse? You can come out now. Jones is gone."

There was no response, but Kat thought she heard a faint hum coming from one of the dark corners, near the old drawers Jones had been talking about. Frowning, she turned on the light.

With the bright sunlight streaming in through the window, the electric light didn't make much difference through most of the lab. In the corners, however, it made all the difference, and suddenly Kat could make out the parts of the room that had been in shadow. She also found the mouse, which was sitting by a little drawer close to the ground, one that Kat barely remembered. She must have noticed it before, since she had gone through the lab as thoroughly as she could before starting to use it, but it didn't seem familiar at all.

"It's all right," she said, kneeling by the mouse. "Jones is gone."

The mouse continued to hum, and it stared straight at that little drawer with an intensity that sent a chill down Kat's spine. If the mouse had heard what she said, it made no response, and it did nothing at all when she set a hand on its back.

"Mouse?" she asked. "Mouse, what's the matter?"

The humming only grew more intense, and it got louder as Kat reached for the drawer. Whatever was inside it, it would be at least part of the answer of what had happened to the mouse, and she had to understand. These robots were like her people – like her children almost – and if something was hurting them or causing them to break down, then she had to know so she could get rid of it.

The drawer stuck a little when she pulled on the tiny handle, but after a bit of tugging, it slid open easily, revealing a tiny space. There was nothing inside but a plain gold ring. It was cool to the touch, and surprisingly heavy when Kat picked it up.

As soon as it left the drawer, the mouse stopped humming and the lights in its eyes died.

Kat dropped the ring, which fell to the ground with hardly a clatter, and scooped up the mouse. Not bothering to turn the lights off or even clear the table away more than just shoving everything on it to the side, she laid the mouse down and opened it up. Her hands were trembling, and as she leaned close, she found herself whispering, "Please, please, please," though she didn't know who she was asking. She peered at the inside of the mouse, poking around through the wiring and inspecting every space she could find, but it seemed as though nothing was wrong. The insides were as she had left them only a few hours before, and it couldn't have lost its charge so quickly. To do so would have run down its motor, and that looked perfectly fine.

It was as though the mouse had just died.

Wiping tears from her eyes with her sleeve, Kat closed up the mouse and set it aside. She would have to bring it to the other robots and try to explain what had happened, but she wasn't at all sure what she could say. This was like nothing she had ever seen before, and the only explanation she did have was that she had picked up a ring and the mouse had stopped working.

The ring. It still lay where she had dropped it, and now she walked back to the corner and looked down at it. The drawer was indistinguishable from all the other drawers around it, but the ring stood out against the drab floor, shining with a reflection from the electric light. She picked it up, and it was still surprisingly heavy, though it looked a bit smaller than it had before, small enough to fit well on one of her fingers. For a moment she was tempted to put it on, but instead she stuck it into her pocket. If it had caused some kind of disturbance in the mouse, she couldn't just leave it lying around. She couldn't bring it near the other robots, either, just in case it did something to them. The best place for it was to hide it somewhere in her room.

Kat wrapped the mouse in a little handkerchief. It seemed more respectful than just carrying it, although she did tuck it into another pocket so she would have both hands. The hall was empty when she left her lab, although just after she locked the door, a young couple came down the hall, holding hands and whispering. They were too wrapped up in each other to notice Kat, and she hurried away.

Of course, if she left the ring in her room, there was always a chance that Reynardine would find it. He had changed since first trapping himself inside the body of Annie's toy, but she still wasn't sure she would trust him with something this dangerous. Maybe she could tell Annie to forbid him from looking wherever she hid it. But then she would have to explain to Annie what was going on. She could just make all of her stuff off limits for Reynardine. That would let her hide the ring anywhere, and it would sound more believable, as long as Annie didn't notice that Kat had never been concerned about that sort of thing before.

At least she wouldn't have to explain it at once. When Kat reached their room, she found that it was empty. Annie was probably off with Mr. Eglamore learning how to use a sword. Reynardine was out of sight, probably nestled in the pile of blankets at the foot of Annie's bed or tucked inside her backpack. Even so, Kat was careful to keep her back to Annie's side of the room as she hid the ring inside a bundle of socks.

Once that was done, she headed out again, now holding the bundle with the mouse in her hands. It felt a bit more respectful than just holding it in her pocket, and she couldn't help pitying the little thing. Something had happened to break it worse than she could imagine, and it ought to be at rest with other robots.


	2. Gunnerkrigg Court: In the Library

Kat brought the little mouse corpse – if that was the proper word for what she held – to the robots, who thanked her for bringing it to them. She told them everything that had happened but left out the ring. She wasn't sure why, but something made her hold her tongue when it came to that, and it wasn't until after she left that she realized it hadn't really been a weakness but instead some kind of fear. She didn't know what the ring was, and she didn't want to alarm the robots until she could understand.

Antimony still wasn't at their room when Kat returned, but the ring was still there, where she had hidden it. Kat hadn't planned to do anything with it, but now she brought it out again, just to look at it. There was something familiar about it, as though she had seen a faded image in a book years ago and promptly forgotten until just now.

It was like a picture from her childhood, and she wondered whether she ought to ask her parents about it. One of them was bound to know, if it had come from then, but something kept her from heading out to find a phone. She didn't know why, but she didn't want to just call them and ask whether they knew anything about a plain gold ring that could do something to robots. Instead, she made her way to the library. If she had seen it in a book, it would have to be there.

A sudden shiver ran over Kat, and she grabbed a light jacket before heading out to the library. She'd meant to put the ring back in the bundle of socks, but instead she tucked it into her pocket as she left the room. Just before closing the door, she called, "Reynardine?"

"What?" snapped a little white stuffed wolf as he poked his head out from under a pile of blankets. "Damn it all, I was asleep."

"You can go back to sleep in a minute," Kat said. "When Annie gets here, could you tell her I'm in the library?" She wasn't sure how long the research would take, but she wanted Annie to join her.

"Fine," Reynardine muttered, and as he burrowed under his blankets again, Kat thought she heard him muttering something about the interesting dream he'd been having. Apparently it had been full of snow and trees, and she thought she heard that he had been hunting someone lost in the woods. With a shudder, she closed the door and hurried to the library.

The room was large, old, and dusty. Something about it felt heavy inside Kat's mind, and she was tempted to slip out and head back to her lab, or maybe back to the robots. But Annie would come to meet her there, so she had to at least wait at a table. It wasn't as though she had to do any research. She just had to wait for Annie.

As soon as she had sat down, though, Kat wondered what she was thinking. She had wanted Annie to join her, but she had planned to get a little work done before that, so she would have something to show her friend instead of just expecting her to join her in the research. Seeing the mouse die must have shaken her more than she thought if she had forgotten about that. Pressing her hands against the corners of her eyes, she left the table and went in search of books.

The library was as oddly constructed as ever, and Kat spent as much time wandering the stacks as she did finding books. None had the information she wanted, but sometimes she found herself doubling back to check on one she'd already passed by, for no apparent reason. It was as though there was a little whisper in the back of her mind, telling her what she ought to do, and she was distracted enough to listen to it and follow it without realizing what was happening. Even when she tried to pay attention to what she was doing, it was impossible to control every one of her actions, and each one that slipped became part of a domino effect.

"Kat?"

Kat squeaked and nearly dropped the book she'd been holding. When she turned, she saw Annie standing a few feet behind her, looking concerned. "Hi!" Kat said, and lowered her voice to add, "You startled me."

"I'm sorry," Annie said, and she walked past Kat a little to look at the books. "Reynard told me that you were in the library. I thought you might want me to join you."

"Yeah," Kat said, putting away the book in her hands. It wasn't much use, and she didn't even recognize the language it was written in. "I've been trying to do some research but haven't gotten very far."

"I'll be glad to help you," Annie said. "What were you trying to look up?"

For a moment, Kat considered not telling her, but that seemed such an irrational thought that she dismissed it at once. Still, she didn't want to start talking about it in the open, so she grabbed Annie's hand and pulled her through the stacks, weaving along until they found a quiet corner where no one was. It was likely there hadn't been anyone there for a long time; the books were covered in dust, and there was a quiet feeling in the air that sent prickles down Kat's spine.

"Kat, what's wrong?" Annie asked, looking even more concerned than before. "Reynard said you'd been acting strangely."

"I found something," Kat said. She told Annie the story of what had happened to the mouse, and of how Jones had come into her lab and said she hoped she wouldn't find anything interesting. She told her about the little drawer, and about how the mouse had simply stopped working, even though nothing was wrong with it. Her words stumbled and seemed to trip over her tongue, and a few times she found herself losing her train of thought. That frightened her even more than what had happened to the mouse, and by the time she finished, her hands were shaking.

Annie looked at her as though this were nothing out of the ordinary, then asked, "May I see the ring?"

Kat reached into her pocket to give her the ring, but as soon as her fingers closed around it, she realized just how young the two of them were. They were sixteen years old, and whatever this thing was, it was beyond the both of them. It would be best if they just left it somewhere for someone else to deal with and got on with their lives.

_What am I thinking?_

She pulled the ring out and held it out, flat on the palm of her hand. It felt far heavier than it looked, even heavier than it had when she first picked it up, and the time between when Annie saw it and when she took it from her hand seemed to stretch on for hours, though Kat knew it was only a few minutes. Annie peered at it, frowned at the way it shone against Kat's light brown skin, and even circled Kat's hand as much as she could, murmuring to herself.

Then Annie took it, and the weight was gone. It wasn't only Kat's hand that felt lighter, although for a moment she thought it might simply float off and head to the ceiling. A heavy sensation was gone from her shoulders, as well, and it wasn't until she inhaled that she realized how tight her chest had been.

Annie held the ring up above her eyes so it shone beneath one of the lamps on the bookshelf. "It's so light," she said. "It feels like it weighs nothing at all."

"Really?" Kat asked, and as she spoke, she realized that her mind felt lighter as well. The little whisper was gone, or if it was still there, then it had faded to so near silence that it might as well have been gone. "It felt so heavy when I held it."

Now that she saw it in Annie's hand, though, she could well believe that it was lighter. It looked no different, but it wasn't at all the same. The ring had a different sheen on it, though it could have just been that Annie had paler fingers, and Kat felt different as she looked at it. In her hand, it had made her think of something heavy, of something that could be used as a tool, but in Annie's fingers, it looked as though it was bright and shining, as though it had been made out of fire.

"I've never seen anything like this," Annie said. "Do you mind if I put it on?"

A sudden fear went through Kat, though she didn't know what exactly she was afraid of. "Be careful," she said.

"Don't worry about me," Annie said. "I know how to handle magic." She gave Kat a reassuring smile, then slipped the ring onto her finger.

Then Annie was gone, and Kat couldn't tell where she might be.

A second later, Annie appeared again, and Kat had just enough time to wrap her arms around her friend before her knees gave way. The ring was clutched tightly in her hand, and she clung to Kat's shirt, shaking and sobbing. Both girls sank to the floor, and it was several minutes before Annie had recovered enough to speak.

"What happened?" Kat asked. "Where did you go?"

"I didn't go anywhere," Annie said, wiping her eyes on the back of her hand. It left smears of make-up on her skin, but she barely seemed to notice. Her head was resting on Kat's shoulder, and Kat kept her arms wrapped tightly around her friend, a little afraid that she might vanish again and she wouldn't be able to save her. Annie's voice shook, and more tears were welling up in her eyes, but she didn't start sobbing again.

"Can you tell me what happened?" Kat asked. When Annie didn't respond, she pulled her friend tighter and asked, "Can you try?"

Annie wiped her eyes again. "How is it that you always know when something's wrong?"

"It's not exactly impossible to tell when you're crying," Kat said.

Annie laughed a little and wrapped her arms around Kat. One of her hands was still in a tight fist, and Kat wondered whether she ought to try to get the ring from Annie. She didn't want it back – no one sane would – but she didn't want her friend to have to hold it after what had just happened.

"So where did you go?" Kat asked. "I know you said you didn't go anywhere, but it looked like you did. You vanished. What happened to you?"

Annie took a long shaky breath. "I'm not sure," she said. "At first, nothing changed. You were still there, but you looked surprised at something. I was about to ask what was wrong when suddenly fire sprang up all around me. I could feel it slipping inside me, and I couldn't tell whether I wanted to give in to the fire or get away from it. I could hear a voice, too, but I couldn't tell what it was saying. I wanted to pull off the ring, but I couldn't manage to move my arms, and –" Her voice broke off, and she buried her face in Kat's shoulder. A moment later, she said, her voice muffled, "I'm not sure how I managed to get it off my finger."

Under her hand, Kat could feel Annie's heart beating wildly, and she was sure her own was no calmer. "I'm glad you did," Kat said.

"How long was I gone?" Annie asked.

"A few seconds," Kat said. "Maybe two or three."

"Three seconds," Annie murmured. "It felt like so much longer. An hour at least."

Kat shuddered at the thought of spending an hour in a place like that. The ring was dangerous, and though she had no idea how it had come to be in her lab or what it had to do with the little dead robot mouse, she did know that she wanted it gone, as far gone as possible. The first thing to do, as with everything, would be to find out what the ring was and where it had come from, but before that, there was something else she needed to figure out. "Will you be all right?" she asked.

"I think so," Annie said, raising her head and trying to smile. "Yes. I will be."

"Good." Kat got to her feet and pulled Annie up as well. "Can you help me find out what this thing is? I couldn't find anything on my own, but I bet we can figure it out if we work together."

"I'll try to help," Annie said. "I'm not sure how useful I'll be, though. Going to that place shook me a little." It looked as though it had shaken her a lot, but Kat didn't want to contradict her while she still looked so pale and nervous.

"Well, I feel fine," Kat said, and she was surprised to find that she did. Now that the ring wasn't in her pocket, she felt positively chipper, aside from her worry. "Besides, I'm a level five researcher, so as long as you give me a little help, we should have this mystery solved before dinner."

Annie laughed a little and tucked the ring into her pocket. "I hope it won't take long. I'm pretty tired."

Kat took Annie's hand and pulled her along through the stacks, looking around at the titles of books. There were so many that she didn't know where to start, and Annie wasn't much help, although Kat told her again and again that it was perfectly all right. In the end, Kat grabbed six books that looked likely – _Twenty Thousand Mystical Objects, Ancient Lore, Things Best Forgotten, Places Best Forgotten, More Places Best Forgotten, _and _How to Tell What Killed Your Friend _– and headed back to the tables. The books were heavy, and they made a satisfying thump when Kat set them down.

"Why would we have these books if the things and places are best forgotten?" Antimony asked, taking the three that referred to forgetting. Kat took the other three and decided to start with the one that might tell her what had killed the robot mouse.

"The same reason they have books written in the eighteenth century," Kat said. "Someone thought they might be useful, and no one's gotten rid of them yet."

"The ones from the eighteenth century are useful, though," Annie said. "Maybe they don't have anything about robot fish, but there's a lot about magical theory in them, and some of them even have to do with things in the forest."

"Why were you studying magical theory?" Kat asked. "There aren't many classes on that, at least not for Queslett."

"I know," Annie said, opening _Things Best Forgotten_. "I just thought it might be interesting to know." She had opened it to a random page, and with a frown, she broke off from whatever the rest of her explanation might have been and stared at the book. "Do you know what this is?" she asked, holding up the book so Kat could see an illustration of a woman who appeared to be completely made of bone, complete with hair and breasts.

"I don't know," Kat said. "I'm not sure if I should be scared or intrigued."

"Probably the former," Annie said. She put the book down and turned to another page, and the two of them got to work.

As she looked through the books, Kat had to remind herself that it all could be a lot worse. The ring could have killed her, or Annie, or even Reynardine. Really, they were rather lucky. Still, that didn't get rid of the knowledge that things would be a lot better if the ring had never turned up. Annie wouldn't be pale and trembling, and the robot mouse would still be alive. For all Kat knew, the ring had done a great deal more than just those things, though she wasn't sure what else it might have done. Maybe there would be answers in one of the books. If there weren't, she wasn't sure where she could turn next.

Sometimes while they worked, Kat would glance up from her book and find Annie shifting her hands nervously, as though she needed something to do with them. "Are you all right?" Kat asked.

"Fine," Annie said, though Kat was sure she was lying. "Why do you ask?"

"I just don't know if that ring did anything else to you," Kat said. "You look a bit nervous."

"I'm fine," Annie snapped, although almost at once she looked regretful. "Really, I am fine," she said, her voice low and soft. "It's been a long day, and seeing what I saw hadn't done anything to make me any less tired."

"Maybe we should take a break and look tomorrow," Kat said, stumbling a little over her words.

"No," Annie said at once. "This is important. I'll be all right. I'll just go to bed a little earlier tonight. I can do this."

* * *

><p>The bedroom door didn't have a lock, but the closet did.<p>

There was something disturbing about that, and Kat wondered whether it made sense to lock the closet door at all. After all, that was where Annie stored her clothes – and even Kat had some winter things in there – and sometimes Reynardine liked to slip in if the two of them were talking too loudly. Kat couldn't exactly ask Annie about it now, though, since her friend was fast asleep, so all she could do was change into her pajamas and lie down.


	3. Gunnerkrigg Court: Under the Stars

In all the time that Annie and Kat had been roommates, they hadn't spent a night apart. It just felt right for the two of them to be together. They were best friends, after all, and they hadn't tired of each other, so what would be the point in being apart? Annie couldn't think of one, and yet that night she found herself standing on the roof under the stars, looking up at the night sky and wondering what had possessed her to go up there in the middle of the night, wearing only her nightgown.

Something was wrong. She knew that, but she didn't know if there was anything she could do about it. It wasn't a small problem, something she could solve by going inside and going back to sleep. It was a wrongness that had settled into her mind somewhere deep, like a crack running all the way through her, and she shuddered at the thought of it. Not even the night and the stars could fill up that crack, and the wind only seemed to race through it as it brought up goose bumps on her arms and legs. It was spring, but still close enough to winter that the air was cold. Or perhaps it only felt that way to her, and the night was as warm and pleasant as any other.

She was lonely. That wasn't what was wrong, but it was something wrong, and it was something that she wasn't sure how to fix. She didn't want to wake Kat – she didn't want to go inside at all – but she wanted someone beside her. Her father was far away, and her mother was dead, and she didn't want to turn to any of the teachers or anyone else in the school. She wanted family.

After a few seconds, she decided she didn't want family. She just wanted someone who could reach inside her and make everything feel less empty.

If she were to go back inside and pretend everything was all right, she would make it to the next day. She would make it to the next week. She might even make it to the next month, but after that would be another month, and another, and on and on, and no one would notice how far away she was from being all right. She would be screaming against her hands, and no one would hear her unless she let them, but she knew that she couldn't. She didn't know how she knew, but she wouldn't let any of them understand how she felt.

Once upon a time, when she was a little girl, she had only wanted to help people. It was why she had been glad to help walk spirits into the ether. They needed her, and she was able to take their hands and comfort them. Even when she had been the one to take her mother's spirit, it had been all right, because her mother had smiled and set a hand on the top of her head, as she always had. It had been sad to see her go, of course, but the sadness had faded.

Annie didn't know why she was thinking about that now. Old thoughts were coming up, and there was no way for her to stop them. All she could do was let them slip into her mind as she paced around the roof, sometimes looking up at the stars, other times gazing out at the other buildings of the court.

"Has something hurt you?"

Annie gasped, and even when she turned and saw Reynardine standing behind her, a white wolf now rather than just a toy, she couldn't manage to relax. "How did you know I would be here?" she asked.

"I followed you." Reynardine walked up to her side and nudged her hand gently with his nose.

"I didn't hear you."

"I didn't mean for you to." He looked up at her, and she wondered how she could have forgotten just how serious he could look in this form. "I could tell that something was bothering you, and I thought you might want to be alone." He nudged her hand again, and she stroked the top of his head absently. "Except for me, of course. Now, has something hurt you?"

Annie shook her head. "I'm all right. You'd know if there were something wrong."

"I can't read your mind, Annie, but I can tell certain things about you. There's something wrong, and you probably haven't even told Kat yet."

"I'm afraid to," Annie said, and just like that, it was as though a dam inside her had opened up. She couldn't speak; she couldn't even keep her eyes open. The rush of terror now that she had admitted it overwhelmed her, and she dropped to her knees and wrapped hear arms around the wolf. "I'm scared," she whispered.

"You're strong," Reynardine said. "You're stronger than anyone would believe. But even the strongest can feel fear."

She wanted to stop time. She wanted to hold everything still in that moment, pressed against her wolf's warmth and hearing his reminder that she was strong. It helped to hear it, even if she didn't entirely believe it.

"Will you tell me what's wrong?" When Annie lifted her head, Reynardine's eyes seemed to pierce into her, and she glanced away at once. "Annie, what is it?"

"I'm not sure," she said. "I know something's wrong, but I can't quite tell what it is."

"Tell me what you can. I'll see if I can help."

She started with the dream she'd had, of a dark lake reflecting autumn-red leaves, and of the sense she had that there was something inside the lake reaching out for her. "When I woke up, I wasn't in my bed," she said. "I was in the middle of the hall. I walked around for a little, but I didn't want to go back to my room, so I came up here."

"Have you had problems with sleepwalking before?"

Annie shook her head. She hadn't always slept well, but then, she didn't know anyone who had slept well every night of their lives. She'd never woken up from a strange dream in the middle of a hall before, and that frightened her almost as much as the dream had.

"Is there anything I can do to help?"

"I don't know," she said. It all seemed too large, too much for anyone to handle.

"Is there anything Kat can do to help?"

Kat had been the one to give her the ring. It had all started with Kat. Annie shivered, remembering the ring in Kat's hand and how different it had looked from when she had taken it. Whatever had happened had come from the ring, and the ring had come from Kat… but she couldn't blame her friend. Kat wouldn't have known what would happen. She had only wanted to know what the ring was and why it had hurt a robot mouse.

"Annie, I want to understand what's happened to you."

"So do I."

"Is there anyone who might be able to help?"

"I don't know. I feel like I've already tried everything."

"What have you tried already?"

She had tried to study, and when she was too weary to even look at the books, she had gone to her bed. Then had come the dreams, and the water lapping at her feet, and the feeling of death and the smell of salt. Then she had woken alone, still half-believing she was by the lake. "Nothing."

"Can you tell me what you know about what's happened?"

Annie turned away in frustration, even though she felt cold without Reynardine pressed against her. "I don't know," she snapped. "I don't know anything, and you don't understand what this feels like."

"You know a great many things," Reynardine said, walking around her until she faced him. "Trust me, Annie."

"There's too much happening," she said, pressing her hands to her head. "I don't know how to make sense of it all."

"Tell me," Reynardine said. "Maybe I can help make it clear."

"It feels like there's something inside me," she said. "There's something trying to claw its way out, and I want to get rid of it, but I don't know how, because it's part of me, and if I try to tear it out, I'll be tearing out part of myself." She wasn't sure where she could find it, either. If she could feel that thing sitting behind her heart or inside her head, she might already have tried to cut it out of her, but it was somewhere hidden and moving, impossible to find.

Reynardine nudged her gently. "Get up. There's somewhere we need to go."

"Where?" Annie asked, getting to her feet. She rested her hand on the wolf's head, and he didn't seem to mind at all as they walked back inside. Her legs shook, but she worked her fingers into Reynardine's fur and forced herself to keep walking.

"We're going to find someone who can help you."

"Who?"

Reynardine didn't answer, and he led her down through the court. It seemed dark and lonely at night, and Annie stepped closer to Reynardine. The shadows seemed as though they were reaching out to grasp her and pull her into the fiery place. She thought that perhaps she should have felt more at home there, but instead she was just afraid. The fire wasn't the sort that belonged to her; it was the kind that could burn even her, though she was a fire elemental. She didn't think that should be possible, but when she had looked out on the flames, she had known. And then there had been the voice…

"Annie?"

Annie wasn't sure when she had fallen to her knees, but there she was, trembling and leaning against the wall as Reynardine rested his jaw on her shoulder. "I'm all right," she said, getting to her feet.

"You're not," Reynardine said. "I was going to take you to Eglamore, but I'm not so sure how much he can help now. Unless…" He paced nervously in front of her before looking up and asking, "Do you trust me?"

"Of course I do," Annie said.

"Then tell me what has made you feel like this. The only thing I can think of is an ancient evil, and something I may not be able to help you with. If it is that, then it will be nearly impossible for me to save you."

"It was a ring," Annie said. "Just a little golden ring."

"Did you put it on?" Annie nodded, and Reynardine bowed his head. "Then there is nothing I can do. The only way to destroy it and release its hold from you is to go into the forest, and I cannot go there."

"Then I'll go alone," she said. "I've gone into the forest before, and I can do it again."

"You're not strong enough to make it through the forest on your own. You'll need someone to help you, and I'm not sure you can trust Coyote or Ysengrin, not when it involves something this powerful." Reynardine started walking again, and Annie set her hand on his head to keep herself steady. "Where did you put the ring?"

"I left it in the closet." For some reason, that seemed strangely funny, and Annie had to press a hand over her mouth to keep from giggling hysterically.

"You or Kat should be the one to carry it," he said. "You're both strong, and I don't want it to get a hold over anyone who can't handle the desire for it." After a moment's thought, he said, "Perhaps it should be Kat. She doesn't seem as badly affected as you are."

Feeling Reynardine beneath her hand gave Annie a faint sense of support, and she nodded. "That might be best. Kat and I can go into the forest to destroy it." She paused and asked, "How will we find where to destroy it? Is there some secret place we have to go or a secret ritual we have to complete?"

"There are certain rules that need to be obeyed," Reynardine said. "There must be a spark, a hunter, a return… I don't remember all of them."

Something heavy seemed to lie on Annie's shoulders, but it wasn't an uncomfortable heaviness. It was simply weariness, and she wanted nothing more than to lie down in her bed and fall asleep. She knew the dreams of the lake were waiting for her, but she was too tired to fear them. "Is there someone who would know?" she asked with a yawn.

"Eglamore would," Reynardine said. He looked up at her and added, "We can see him in the morning. You need sleep."

Annie nodded, and they walked slowly back to her room.

When the door opened, Annie could tell at once that something was wrong. She couldn't tell what it might be at her first glance, but then she saw that the door to her closet was open and the lock lay on the floor. She had put that lock on before going to bed, hoping that tucking the ring away would keep it hidden forever, but the dreams had come, and she couldn't shake the memories of the fiery place. With a gasp, she ran to the closet and began digging through her pile of winter clothes to find the ring.

It was gone. The ring was gone, and she couldn't tell where it was. Her clothes were strewn across the floor, and she was about to start digging through her dirty laundry – though she knew it wouldn't be there, since she had put it in her winter clothes – when she heard Reynardine say, "Kat!"

Annie turned and saw her friend lying curled beside her bed, face buried in her hands. "Kat!" she cried, dropping a blouse and running to wrap her arms around the other girl. "What happened? Are you all right?" Then she spotted the ring lying on the floor and nearly dropped Kat in her haste to grab it. "What were you doing?"

"I don't know," Kat said as Reynardine sniffed around her. "I was having trouble sleeping, and I just thought, maybe if I pick that lock, I'll be able to wear myself out and get some sleep. Then I saw the ring, and I was curious about what you saw, so I thought maybe I ought to put it on. And…" Her voice broke, and she buried her face in Reynardine's neck.

"You shouldn't have!" Annie snapped, pressing the ring to her chest. "You must have gone digging through my clothes to find it. It's none of your business."

"Annie!" Reynard snapped, but he only glared at her for a moment before turning back to Kat. "What did you see?" he asked gently. "Do you think you can tell us?"

Kat shook her head. "I can't," she said, her voice muffled. "Please don't make me."

"I won't," Reynardine said, and he sounded so kind that Annie at once felt guilty for snapping at Kat. Setting the ring on her pillow, she sat on her bed and put her hands on Kat's shoulders. Kat flinched at first, but then she relaxed a little.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Annie asked.

"Get rid of it," Kat said, lifting her head from Reynardine. "I know it sounds like the most obvious thing to do, but you need to get rid of it. I don't care how. I just want it gone."

"Reynardine says he knows how," Annie said. She looked at the wolf, who met her gaze. He would have to help now, if both of them were troubled by it. He couldn't back down now, especially with Kat still embracing him. "He'll help us."

"I will," Reynardine said, and he rested his head on Kat's shoulder. "First thing tomorrow, Annie and I will talk to Eglamore to see what he can do."

Kat got to her feet and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. "It was terrible," she said. "What I saw. It was terrible and wonderful, and I couldn't decide which it was. I didn't know whether I wanted to keep it going forever or wanted it to stop and never stop again."

"It will be easier after," Reynardine said. "Getting rid of the ring is the hardest part. After that, everything should just fade away."

"Are you sure?" Annie asked. She had tucked her legs under her blanket, but she no longer felt as tired as she had before. "How would you know all of this?"

"I'll tell you tomorrow," Reynardine said, and Annie made a face as she lay down. She had a nagging suspicion that he was lying to her – lying to both of them – and she just needed the chance to catch him in it. She would have the best chance tomorrow, once she'd gotten some sleep, but if she waited all night, then he would have time to work out all the details. He was a clever fox, and she wasn't sure she could trust him.

All she could say, though, was, "You'd better," before rolling onto her side and falling asleep.

She didn't dream of the lake. Instead, she dreamed of a grave covered in freshly turned earth. Reynardine sat by it, but he wasn't alone. Sometimes Kat came by, and she saw Eglamore and other people from the school, but whenever she tried to speak to them, they neither saw nor heard her. Years passed, and the visits slowly stopped, but Reynardine remained, sometimes howling with a sound that could have broken her heart with the grief in it.

Once, she saw her father come to the grave. He stood by it for only a minute before turning and walking away, only barely hiding a single tear with his hand.


	4. Gunnerkrigg Court: Fencing on the Stones

Annie was used to being bested by Eglamore in their fencing lessons, but today, she was doing even worse than usual. It took him barely five seconds to land a touch on her during their first bout. During the second, he managed to disarm her, and in the third, he actually knocked her to the ground. Instead of getting to her feet at once, she lay on her back for a few seconds, dazed and dizzy.

"Carver, are you all right?" Eglamore asked as he set down his sword and held out his hand to help her to her feet.

"I'm fine," Annie snapped, brushing aside his hand as she rose and grabbed her sword. It hadn't gone far from her, and she didn't have to reach to retrieve it. "I want to try again."

She would have gotten into the _en garde _position and been ready to attack, but Eglamore shook his head and set down his sword. "Not today, Carver. You're not well. I think you ought to get some rest."

"I'm fine," she said again, more forcefully. "You don't need to try to protect me."

"Protecting you is my job, Carver," Eglamore said, and he began taking off the padding he had been wearing. "We're done for today. Unless you want to tell me what's wrong, you can go get some sleep, but I won't fight you until you look well again."

The sword dropped from Annie's hand, and the ground seemed to shift beneath her. That had been happening all day, ever since she had left her room and the ring tucked under her pillow. It hadn't been terribly noticeable, but now that she was tired, she felt as though she would collapse right there. She barely noticed Eglamore picking her up and carrying her to the edge of the training ground.

"Carver? Carver, can you hear me?" She blinked and saw him bending over her, looking worried and – she wasn't sure where the thought came from – far more human than before.

"I'm fine," she said again, but this time she felt a faint tingle on the back of her neck, reaching up against her skull. She felt terribly small, especially next to Eglamore, who had picked her up as though she weighed nothing.

"You're not fine," he said. "Tell me what's wrong, and don't waste any time with insisting that it's nothing."

She wasn't sure how much she dared to leave out, or even if she could leave anything out. In the state she was in, Eglamore would probably know that she hadn't told him something, and he would press her until she did, so she said everything. She told him all she knew, from Reynardine telling her that Kat was waiting in the library to trying on the ring to sleepwalking later that night. She told him about her sudden bursts of anger and weakness, and how Reynardine had wanted her to go to him first thing in the morning, but she had slipped out while everyone was still asleep.

"This sort of thing is too dangerous to be in a school," Eglamore said at once, as soon as she had finished speaking. "How did it get here in the first place?"

"I don't know," Annie said, blinking. She was even more tired than before and felt as though her mind were made of paper. It was tearing now, and something inside it was peeking out. She wasn't sure what that thing was, whether it would be kind or cruel, or whether it even belonged to her. There was something foreign about it, but also something familiar, and she wanted both to close it away from the rest of herself and to embrace it. Perhaps if she found a way to peel away the rest of the paper, she would be able to understand what it was, but the paper was so fragile it might tear at the slightest mistake, and she couldn't risk that.

"Carver?"

Eglamore's hand on her shoulder brought Annie back to reality. "Yes?"

"I asked whether you knew anything about how to get rid of the ring. If you know how to destroy it, that would be even better."

"Reynardine knows a little," she said. "He couldn't remember all of it last night, which is why he wanted me to go to you." She pushed herself into a more comfortable sitting position, and though her head spun a little, she felt stronger than she had before. "How much do you know?"

"Bits and pieces of the lore," he said. "Would Reynardine still be in your room?"

Annie nodded. "He should be." There was probably some order she had given him from a while ago telling him to stay there, but even if there wasn't, she didn't know what he would do while wandering around. There weren't many things around the court that would be interesting for a fox trapped in the body of a stuffed wolf, and there were plenty of books in the room, if he felt like reading. He might even still have tea parties with other toys that had been stashed in the closet because she had never gotten rid of them. Perhaps she ought to, someday. She wasn't a child anymore, and while she did keep Reynardine, it was because he was alive, not some fabric and stuffing sewn in the shape of a wolf. The other toys were nothing at all special, aside from being memories of her childhood. Really, the only reason to keep them was for Reynardine to have something to do, and she could probably find him some other hobby.

"What about Donlan?"

Annie wondered how long her mind had been drifting this time. Eglamore looked concerned, but no more than he had been before, and she supposed it had only been a few seconds. "I don't know," she said. "She might be in her lab."

"Is there a chance she might have taken the ring with her?"

Anger flared up inside Annie, sharp and fierce as fire, and Eglamore pulled his hand from her shoulder with a hiss of pain. "She had better not have," Annie said, starting to her feet. "I warned her against taking it last night, and she'd better have listened." If she hadn't listened to the warning, then she should at least have remembered what she had seen. Wonderful as it might have been, Kat had also said it was terrible, and she had sounded frightened enough not to try anything stupid.

"Carver, listen to yourself," Eglamore said. "You sound like a stranger."

She looked down at him, about to say something about how this was who she had always been, but then she saw the red skin on his palm. It looked as though he had been touching hot metal, and when she held her fingers above it, heat came off in waves. "I'm sorry," she said, reaching out to take his hand although she wasn't sure what she could do to help it. "I don't know what's been happening to me."

"It's the ring," he said. "It brings out the darkest parts of people. I suppose this means we've found what yours is." He got to his feet, still holding his hand gingerly.

"Is there anything I can do?" she asked, reaching for his hand again, but Eglamore pulled it away.

"I'll get it looked at later," he said. "There are more important things to worry about than this." He left the room at a quick walk, and Annie followed, doing her best to keep up despite her weariness.

"You said it brings out the worst in people," she said.

"That's right. For you, it brought out the worst parts of fire elementals: a sharp temper and an urge for destruction."

"But I haven't wanted to destroy anything yet," Annie said, trying not to think about the paper surrounding her mind. Perhaps it would be best to just burn it away, leaving nothing but ashes. Ashes were clean and could vanish easily, and then she could get a good look at whatever had been looking out through that paper. Besides, it had been partly Eglamore's idea, even if he had suggested it indirectly.

"You will," he said. "You'll want to burn everything before you just to watch it consumed."

"What will happen to Kat, then?" she asked. It was hard to imagine Kat even having a dark side. She was kind and good, and the only negative thing Annie could think of was her friend locking herself away in her lab and doing nothing but work.

"I don't know," Eglamore said. "That's what I'm worried about. For some people, the ring is predictable. You can tell what it would do, or at least make a good guess." He grimaced as they headed down a flight of steps. "If I had it, I would probably turn into some kind of overzealous knight. I'd want so badly to protect people that I'd end up destroying them. Donlan's more of a mystery. I don't have any idea what she might do if she had that kind of power, or if it tried to get inside her mind."

Annie was too busy trying to think of what Kat's dark side might be – trying to turn everything into robots, perhaps? – and she barely noticed the next flight of steps. Her foot stretched out into open air, and she nearly fell when Eglamore caught her and pulled her back. "I'm all right," she said at once, trying to wave him off. "I don't need your help."

"You need someone's," he said. "I'm the only person around to give it, so you might as well accept it."

"I just need some time to get used to this," she said, starting down the stairs. As long as she kept a hand on the railing, she did fine, but that didn't stop Eglamore from keeping a hand on her shoulder until they were on more level ground.

"You won't have time," he said. "If you try to take any, it will be too late, for you and for everyone else."

The world would burn before her. If the ring managed to slip inside her mind, she would see everything turn to ashes at her fingertips. Perhaps that was what the thing inside her mind was. It was the part of her that was pure fire, even more pure than her elemental self. The thought was enticing and yet terrifying at the same time, and she wondered if it was possible for the urge toward destruction to start so soon. She didn't want to burn the court and everything she loved, but at the same time, the desire was there, even if it was still only a seed.

"Carver?" Eglamore sounded almost tentative now, and Annie felt his hand tighten on her shoulder. He wanted to protect her, like a knight protecting a damsel, and she wondered what might happen to him if he took the ring. Would he kill her to keep her safe?

Would he kill her to keep everyone else safe?

That thought was somehow even worse, and she wondered whether he would regret doing it at all. He would have to – she was sure he cared about her in some way, even if now she felt as though she was looking at the world through some distorted lens and couldn't tell anything with certainty – and he might even be nearly unable to do it. If it would keep everyone else safe, though, he would have to at least try. He was a knight, and if the damsel became a dragon, then she would have to be slain.

"Help me," she said, and Eglamore smiled with relief. "But even more than that, don't let me hurt anyone. All right?"

"I'll do what I can," he said.

"Promise me that," she said. "Promise you won't let me hurt Kat, or anyone else I care about."

"I promise." His hand tightened on her shoulder. "I'll do everything I can."

That was all she could possibly ask of him. "Thank you," she said, and opened the door to her room.

At the first glance, all seemed well, but Annie could tell at once that something was wrong. She couldn't say exactly how she knew; she simply did, as clearly as though whatever it was had been written out on the walls. Of course, she couldn't even tell what was wrong, and she certainly couldn't explain it to Eglamore, who looked as though he wanted to ask why she was just standing in the doorway and not going inside. After a few more seconds, she did step in, and the first place she went was to her pillow, which she tossed off her bed and onto the floor to join the winter clothes she hadn't bothered to clean up.

The ring was still there, lying on the sheet right where she had left it.

Annie didn't pick it up. For a while, she just looked at it, then she set a finger on it. The metal felt warm, even though it had been lying between a pillow and a sheet for most of the day, and she realized that the warmth wasn't left over from anyone else's hand. It belonged to the ring itself, and when she did pick it up, her own skin felt cold against it.

"You'll need to be careful with that," Eglamore said.

"I know," Annie said, tucking the ring into a pocket. She didn't feel as comfortable without it pressed against her skin, but she knew it would unnerve Eglamore if she carried it around in her hand. "You don't need to speak to me as though I'm a child."

Eglamore didn't apologize, but he also didn't tell her that he thought she was a child. Instead, he asked, "Where's Reynardine?"

Annie turned in a circle, expecting to find some hint of Reynardine that she could point out, but there was nothing. Even when she checked under the pile of blankets at the foot of her bed, there was no sign of him. "I'm not sure," she said. "Maybe he's with Kat in her lab?" It was the only place she could think to look, and if he wasn't there, she wasn't sure what she would do. She wanted him by her side, and she wanted Kat with her as well.

"We'll check there," Eglamore said, stepping over a small pile of pajamas on his way out.

Annie always felt a bit out of place in the more scientific parts of the court. This area was Kat's domain, and while she would never say that it was all cold and clinical compared to her own magic, it did feel a bit too orderly. She was used to the chaotic feeling of fire, and there was something about math and science that wasn't unexpected enough. Once it could be understood, it was, and there was no way to feel it deeply within her bones, as strongly as she did with fire. Maybe that was why she couldn't think of a way for Kat to be destroyed by the ring; it reached out to magic, and her science would keep her safe.

The inside of Kat's lab was as tight and cramped as ever, filled with all sorts of useful tools that Annie couldn't begin to guess uses for. Sunlight streamed in through the window, but the electric lights were also on, illuminating corners that were normally never used. Several drawers were open, and Kat was fiddling around with something on the table. Reynardine was there too, looking now more like a toy than a wolf, and he ran about on his stubby white legs, fetching things for Kat and helping wherever he could. He wasn't being sarcastic or the least bit annoying, and that was what surprised Annie more than him being there at all. She hadn't thought she would see him look so earnest, especially not when he was a toy.

"This isn't doing anything!" Kat snapped. "All right, get me the –"

"Annie's here," Reynardine said, and Annie thought he sounded a bit melancholy. He headed across the counters to her, hopping over various things that Kat had left lying out. "I thought you'd show up sooner."

Annie couldn't shake the sense that she had failed him somehow, but she wasn't sure how or if she could make amends. "I'm sorry," she said.

Reynardine nodded and hopped onto her shoulder, setting one of his stuffed paws on her head. "I forgive you," he said, a bit overdramatically, but then he pointed toward Kat as though directing a boat. "She's been worried about you, too," he said as Annie walked to where her friend stood. "I kept her from touching the ring."

"Thank you," Annie said, but she didn't have a chance to say anything to Kat before her friend turned from her project and wrapped her arms around her in a hug that nearly knocked Annie off her feet.

"I still don't understand what's going on," Kat said, "but I don't care. I just want us to get along again."

"I think it's time we all understood," Annie said, putting Reynardine on the table so she could look at both him and Eglamore without having to turn her head. "Could the two of you explain what the ring is and how it can be destroyed?"

Reynardine shifted, becoming a wolf, and he looked at Eglamore. "I can try," he said, "but I don't know all of it. I'll need you to fill in some of the gaps."

"I'll fill in what I do know," Eglamore said. As he began to speak, Annie leaned back against the counter, hoping no one would notice how hazy the world had suddenly become for her. She knew she would recover in a bit, but she didn't want anyone to worry, even if her head did feel too light.


	5. Gunnerkrigg Court: A Meeting of Friends

"The ring has existed for hundred, maybe even thousands of years," Eglamore said. "It was created from pure darkness and is evil given shape. I've heard rumors of ways to destroy it, but I'm not sure which of them I ought to believe. To tell the truth, I wasn't even sure if the ring was real or if it was nothing but a story to tell children."

"Well, it does exist," Reynardine said testily. "I've probably heard the same rumors you have, but it doesn't matter how many rumors exist. We have to destroy it. It's our duty."

Annie had never heard Reynardine sound so serious about anything. He had been serious before, of course, but now he sounded as though this were a matter of life and death, or perhaps something even greater. "What do you mean, created from darkness?" Annie asked, her hand drifting to her pocket. She didn't reach in to touch the ring, of course, but she could feel it through the fabric, the circle pressing against her hand and against her thigh. "It doesn't look dark." It felt dark, certainly, but it didn't look so. It had looked like gold mixed with light when she had first held it in her hand.

"Not all things that look dark are so," Reynardine said. "The story I've heard most about how the ring was created comes from many ages ago, when the world was much wilder and more filled with magic. It's a story of how the ring was created, and also of how it might be destroyed, though the destruction is only a speculation. No one really knows how or if it's possible.

"It began with a meeting of friends, and that's the way it's said it ought to end. These friends were a strange sort, and all of them had magic of some kind, or at least magic had touched them. John Uskglass, the Raven King, was there, along with a fairy companion of his. They were joined by a lady knight called by many names, and another lady who had no name at all. The four of them met in the forest, in a dark place where no other power could have a hold over them. Of course, the Raven King wasn't worried about anyone else's power, for this was during the time when he held all dominion over magic.

"They met on a dark day, on a solar eclipse where the sun would be covered by clouds. It was dark as night when they gathered, and though I've heard it said the ring can only be destroyed on a day that is just as dark, I'm not sure how well I believe that tale.

"This was before Gunnerkrigg Court, you must understand. Perhaps people had dreamed of creating it, but in this time, the only thing that existed out here was the forest, and the forest was filled with creatures of magic. They and the humans fought constantly, and John Uskglass, being human himself even though he was the Raven King, was tired of seeing both his peoples die. He had intended the ring to be used for good, to bring about peace between the two peoples.

"The four of them gathered together, and into a small hole in the ground they poured their darknesses, using the oldest and most dangerous of magics. When the spells were done, there was nothing in the hole but a little golden ring, which the Raven King picked up and held before all of them.

"'This is what our magic has wrought,' he said, holding the ring on his palm so they could all see. 'The world has never seen anything like this before, and it may never see the like again.'

"They all agreed, and they were right to. After all, the ring was something different, something wild and unknown. However, there was a tension in the group that hadn't been there before. Perhaps something went wrong with the magic, or maybe it was just that all the evil inside of them had concentrated and grown stronger, but these four close friends now had a rift between them, and one that would never be healed.

"In those times, doing anything that powerful with magic was dangerous. Even the smallest spell could have an effect in the rest of the forest, and a large spell like the one the four of them cast sent out ripples everywhere. It was the first time the forest had ever felt anything so strong, and on that day, everything changed.

"There are some who say that the ring is the reason for everything bad that happened in the forest after that, and if it's destroyed, then all will be well. That's not true. There was evil in the forest before the ring, and there will be evil after. The only thing the ring did was to bring out more evil and give what was already there more strength and confidence. Destroying it will help, but it won't fix everything. Nothing can do that."

"If it will help, then we have to do it," Kat said, and Annie was glad she had spoken up, as she felt too bewildered by all the history that lay on the ring. "Do you know how?"

"There's a spell, I think," Eglamore said, looking at Reynardine for confirmation. "In most of the stories, there's a spell to destroy it."

"The traditional way is bell, book, and candle," Reynardine said, "but it would take a very strong amount of each to deal with this. We'll have to use older magics, and if possible, we'll need to mirror what they did to create it. Four people will have to go down to the place in the forest where the ring was made, and there it can be destroyed."

"What kind of magic will we need?" Annie asked. If it was fire, they were in luck, but she had to push aside the image of all the forest burning around her, surrounding her with glorious reds and golds.

"I don't know," Reynardine said, and Annie couldn't tell whether she felt angry or just disappointed. "I'm not sure we have time to do a great deal of research, though. From how quickly it affected both of you, I think it would be best if we destroy it as soon as possible."

"Who are we going to send into the forest?" Eglamore asked. "They'll have to be people who are close enough to trust each other, and if we're going to mirror the first spell, they should be good friends."

"Are we going to need anything else besides the people?" Kat asked. "Should we find wands or anything to cast the spell with?"

Reynardine shook his head. "You don't bring a wand to a birth," he said, and from his tone, Annie suspected he couldn't be brought to explain that.

"And how are we going to get there?" Kat asked. "I could build a flying machine large enough to carry four people, but I'm not sure I can build it soon enough. They take time, especially if we're going a long way. I'll need fuel, and maybe a copilot, so someone will have to learn how to fly it for when I'm too tired."

"You're not going," Annie said at once, and everyone stared at her, startled by the sudden outburst.

"Of course I am," Kat said, and she sounded astonishingly practical despite the danger and magic that surrounded the whole situation. "You have to go, don't you? I mean, you're not likely to let anyone else take the ring. If you're going, I'm going. You're my friend, and even if the spell didn't need friends to work, I'd go with you." She draped an arm over Annie's shoulder, daring Eglamore and Reynardine to refuse her.

"I doubt we'd be able to keep you here against your will," Eglamore said, and Kat beamed. "I'll go too. You girls will need someone to protect you."

"That's three!" Kat said brightly. "Now we just need to pick out a fourth, someone who's close to all of us."

Everyone's gaze fell on Reynardine, who shook his head. "I can't go back into the forest," he said. "You won't get me there through begging, or through trying to trick me."

"We wouldn't try to trick you," Annie said stepping away from Kat to kneel by the wolf. She didn't want to put him in danger, and yet she couldn't think of anyone else she would rather have as the fourth member of their party. "I won't beg you, either. I only want to ask, just once." She set a hand on his neck and looked into his eyes. "Will you come with us?"

Reynardine looked at her for a while, not saying anything. Then he bowed his head and said, "When I first left the forest, it was because I loved your mother. I left my body behind, and I thought I would never return to it because I could never love any woman as much as I loved Surma. I won't say that you've replaced her in my heart, because no one can, but if there were anyone I would return to the forest for, it would be you, Antimony Carver."

When Reynardine lifted his head, Antimony saw that there was more than that, so much more. He wouldn't just return to the forest for her. He would die for her, and knowing that shook her deeply. "Thank you," she whispered, wrapping her arms around him.

"Four people against the greatest evil thing ever," Kat said after a moment. "That doesn't sound like good odds."

"We'll find a way," Eglamore said. "Antimony, do you think you can handle some stairs? I'd like to go to the armory before we leave. We'll need weapons and supplies, even you."

"I'll be fine as long as we don't go too quickly," she said, getting to her feet. Reynardine kept his back beneath his hand, and the group of four left the lab. Kat locked the door behind them, and Eglamore led them to a spiral staircase.

Annie felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to see a dark-haired woman standing behind her. She was dressed all in black and a red scarf covered the lower half of her face, but Annie could make out the shape of her lips as the woman lifted her other hand to press a finger against them, warning her to keep silent. Her dark eyes were cold and sharp, and though she was small and thin-boned, there was nothing fragile about her. Somehow, Annie knew that she could bring an army to their knees easily, and though she had never seen the woman around the court, she couldn't shake the feeling that she knew her from somewhere.

"Who are you?" Annie whispered, but just then, the woman vanished, fading into the shadows as though she had never been there.

"Carver, what's wrong?" Eglamore sounded disturbed, and when Annie turned to look at everyone, she saw fear in their eyes. They must not have seen the woman, but Annie couldn't deny that she had really been there. She had felt her hand on her shoulder, and it had felt like the hand of someone living.

"Nothing," she said, and brushed past him, hoping to forestall an argument. "What kinds of weapons did you want to get?"

_What sort of mother names her child Antimony? Why not just Anne? I'd still be Annie, after all. What's so special about Antimony? It makes me sound like I'm not human. I'm not, but I could at least pretend to be._

The voice in her head rattled. Annie pressed her hands to the sides of her head, wishing there were some way to either get rid of the voice or make it one with her own, but it persisted, and the only way she could think to get rid of it would be by shouting. That would only disturb the others, though, so she had to push on, to keep walking forward, even though her legs felt as though they were about to give way at any moment.

"Carver? Is something wrong?" Eglamore set a hand on her shoulder, and she froze, not sure if she wanted to shrug it away or turn and try to find some sort of solace.

"Yes," she said. "But I don't know how to make it stop."

Then the world dropped away, and Annie was surrounded by fire again.

* * *

><p>At first, all Annie felt was the floor beneath her, cold and hard as stone. The cold was comforting, in a way, after the fire she had gone through, though she knew she couldn't stay there forever. Just a while longer, though, only until she was strong enough to open her eyes. Then she would rise.<p>

After a moment, she could make out voices.

"I think she's waking up." Kat, sounding nervous but hopeful.

"Thank you." Reynardine, bitter and sharp. "Now we know who to call if we ever need to figure out the obvious."

"Enough, both of you." Eglamore, stern and annoyed. A touch on her hand, and his voice was gentler. "Carver? Antimony, can you hear me?"

She opened her eyes and saw the three of them sitting around her. Even Reynardine looked a bit worried, though it was harder to tell on a wolf's face. "I'm all right," she said, and pushed herself up. Eglamore set his hands on her shoulders to steady her, and Reynardine paced around her, sniffing. The floor shifted beneath her, and when she closed her eyes everything turned into a green afterimage, but otherwise she did feel all right.

"You're pretty clearly not all right, Carver," Eglamore said as he helped her to her feet. Kat hurried to her side and slipped her shoulders under Annie's arm, and between the two of them, she was able to keep walking down the hall, with Reynardine in the lead. "What happened?"

"I don't know," she said. "There was fire everywhere."

"Did you have the ring on?" Kat asked.

Annie shook her head. "I wasn't even touching it." Out of curiosity, she pulled her arm from Kat's shoulders and, ignoring her friend's panicked look, slipped her hand into her pocket and set a single finger on the ring.

At once, the world became clear as a thin layer of ice. Her thoughts felt steady again, and she was able to walk without leaning against Eglamore. When she stopped touching the ring, the clarity vanished, but she didn't feel as week as she had before. A few more experiments as she walked down the hall confirmed it; touching the ring managed to make her feel better. In fact, it made her feel better than she ever had, even better than when she was full of fire.

The trick would be in touching it without putting it on.

"Carver? What are you doing?"

The others had kept pace with her, but Annie hadn't noticed them until Eglamore spoke. Perhaps they had been trying to talk to her for a while; that would explain the tension in his voice. "Nothing," she said at once. "I was just figuring something out."

"And what have you figured out?" Reynardine asked.

"I'm not sure yet. It's something to do with the ring." She drew it from her pocket and held it out for the others to see. It still didn't look like anything special, but now it seemed to shine with its own light, as though there was a fire deep inside it, or as though it had been plucked from the embers and could start its own fire. "Touching it helps to clear my head?"

"May I see?" Kat asked, reaching forward, and in the ring's light, her fingers became grasping and bony, more like a hag's than a young woman's.

"No!" Annie gasped, pulling back, but as soon as the ring was hidden within her fist, she saw Kat's face. Her friend was shocked, nearly crestfallen, and Annie reluctantly put the ring back in her pocket. The world seemed a bit dimmer without it, but she didn't think she was in any danger of fainting again. "It's just… I'd rather keep it to myself for now. You understand, don't you?"

"Sure," Kat said, tucking her hands in her pockets. "I was just curious. I thought maybe I could do some science on it."

"There's no time for science," Reynardine said. "We have to move, and quickly."

"He's right," Eglamore said. "We've got the four of us. We still need to figure out where we're going, and we'll need weapons."

Weapons. That was why they were down here in the first place. Annie had nearly forgotten, but as they moved on, she wondered what they might arm themselves with. There wasn't much that Reynardine could use, and she didn't think Kat knew anything about fighting. Eglamore, of course, would be useful with almost anything, and he had been teaching her how to fence, so she could handle a sword well enough. She would be more comfortable with fire, though.

"Do all of us need to be armed?" she asked.

"I'd like all of us to be," Eglamore said, opening the door to the armory and ushering all of them inside. "Maybe not Reynardine. No offence," he added.

"None taken," Reynardine said, padding into the room and looking around at the various weapons. "I doubt I'd be very useful with anything that would need hands to operate."

Eglamore handed Annie and Kat each a hunting knife and a sword, while he took a knife, a sword, and a bow and quiver of arrows. "Once we get some food and water to start with, we'll be ready," he said. He didn't sound entirely sure, and Annie wondered what might be in the forest that could so frighten him.

She wondered if she should be frightened too.


	6. Gunnerkrigg Court: Zimmy

Kat had been eager to leave so they could help Annie and destroy the ring – the fact that they were going on an exciting adventure was only part of the thrill – but now that they were armed and gathering more supplies, she felt dread creeping through her. She wanted to help, but she also wanted to hide under a staircase until it would be safe to come out again. There were frightening things even in the closer parts of the forest, and if Reynardine was right, then they were going to a place that would be even more dangerous.

Eglamore was off getting food and water for their trip, and Annie and Reynardine were resting – at least, Annie was resting and Reynardine was making sure she stayed resting – which left Kat with nothing to do. She had already cleared up her lab and packed some clothes that would be good for traveling, but there wasn't much of anything else she could think of. She didn't want to bother anyone, so instead she wandered through the school, hoping she might run into Paz and spend some time with her girlfriend before she had to leave. If things were as dangerous as Reynardine said, then she wanted a chance to say good-bye.

She didn't find Paz. Instead, she found Zimmy.

The girl sat on a table in the library, kicking her legs back and forth and scowling as though she wanted to bite off the head of the closest small animal that passed by. Kat planned to slip away, but then Zimmy turned her head, and Kat froze, knowing she had been spotted.

"Been a while, Donlan," she muttered. "Keeping busy?"

"Something like that," Kat said. Something about Zimmy always sent shivers through her, but she didn't want to turn and leave. That would mean finding something else to keep her mind off what was happening, and that might take too long. Talking with Zimmy was better than doing nothing. "Where's Gamma?"

Zimmy shrugged. "Haven't seen her. Don't need her right now, though." She grinned slowly, and another shiver ran up Kat's spine. "You've seen it, haven't you?"

Maybe now was the time to leave. There wouldn't be any help in having nightmares just before they left. "Seen what?"

"You know what I'm talking about," Zimmy said as she swung off the table and advanced on Kat, still grinning. "You've seen it, and you've touched it, too. I don't think you've been touched by it, though, at least not yet."

"I don't understand," Kat said, but before she could run, Zimmy grabbed her arm.

* * *

><p><em>Fire. Fire and ice. Fire and ice and death. Someone laughing wildly in one ear and screaming in the other. "Ringen er død," a woman whispered, and another woman's voice echoed it. One of the voices sounded like Annie's.<em>

_An artist ran his brush up her arm, leaving a trail of paint as red as blood. "Beware," he said, in an accent that sounded archaic. "Beware, and be cautious." He flicked the paintbrush up, leaving a smear of red just below her eye. He grinned, and there was a hint of madness in that grin. "You're beautiful, Katherine."_

_She tried to tell him her name was Katerina, but he was already gone, replaced by a pale girl with hair so fair it was nearly white and eyes as gray as a storm. "The fire will come for you," she said. "The fire will reach you as the cold reached me."_

_"__The cold reached us, too," a man said. He was tall and broad-shouldered, and looked melancholy, even though there was a hint of a smile in his eyes. "It tore away my whole crew. Be glad of the fire, Kat. Be glad you will never have to face that cold." He reached out to take her hand, but before she could respond, he was gone, fading into a mist that crept about and clung to her skin._

_Someone draped a brown coat over her shoulders and wrapped his arms around her tightly. He was a tall, skinny man, and she thought she heard a double heartbeat in his chest. "You'll live," he said. "You have to live. For Annie, and for Paz, and for everyone else. You're brilliant, Kat."_

_And the laughter came again, surrounded by gunshots, and she caught sight of a man with a face like an angel and golden hair that shone in the blood-red dawn. "L'anneau est la mort!"_

* * *

><p>Kat wasn't sure how she had ended up on the floor, but Zimmy was sitting on the table again, watching her. The smile was gone, and she looked so somber that Kat was almost frightened. "Told you that you'd been touched by it."<p>

"By what?" Kat sat up, or tried to. Her head pulsed, and she lay down again. That didn't ease the pain, but closing her eyes helped a little. When she did that, though, she saw the golden-haired man, and even worse, she saw him die and slump against a wall, blood trickling from his mouth as he tried again and again to give her his warning.

_L'anneau est la mort._

"Didn't you listen to what everyone was telling you?"

_L'anneau est la mort._

"I tried," Kat said. "I couldn't understand anything they said. One sounded French, and the other might have been Norwegian." It was something Scandinavian, at any rate.

_L'anneau est la mort._

But there had been some people speaking in English. "They told me to be careful," she said, trying to remember everything. All the people were blurring together, and it was a struggle to recall who had said what. "Someone told me the cold would be worse than the fire. Someone else said I was a hero." She had liked the hero one best, because whoever that man was, he had given her what had to be the best hug in the universe.

_L'anneau est la mort._

"Not them," Zimmy said, growling a little. "The other ones. You know the words I'm about to say."

They said the next four words together, in sync with the voice whispering in Kat's head. "L'anneau est la mort."

"What does it mean?" Kat asked, opening her eyes.

"The ring is death," Zimmy said. "Now do you understand what I meant?"

"I think so." Kat managed to sit up this time, and her head was a bit clearer. She no longer heard the golden-haired man, and when she closed her eyes, she didn't see him slumped against the wall, blue eyes staring at nothing. "How did you know about the ring?"

Zimmy grinned again. "How do you think?"

For a moment Kat couldn't think of anything, but the first idea that came into her head made her scramble to her feet with anger, even though her head pulsed with the remnants of a headache. "Did you put it in my lab?" she asked. "Why would you do that?"

Zimmy snorted. "Like I'd want to go to your lab, Donlan. What would I do there? And why would I want to give the ring to _you_? If I had any sense, I'd throw it down a drain."

Zimmy had a point, Kat realized, and even besides the things she had pointed out, the lab was kept locked more often than not. "You gave it to the robots, then," she said. "It did something to that mouse, and it must have been your fault." It was easy to imagine Zimmy torturing an innocent little robot mouse just for a laugh, though she still wasn't sure how the ring could have made it into her lab afterward.

"Wrong again, Donlan," Zimmy said. "I don't know what the hell you're talking about, but I wouldn't have messed around with some little mouse for no good reason."

"How, then?" Kat asked.

"It touched me," Zimmy said. "It was my ring for a while, and then it went away." She pressed her hands together and ran her thumbs along the base of her fingers as though missing the ring's touch. "I don't know where it went, but I want it back."

"We're going to take it into the forest and destroy it," Kat said. "I don't see why you'd want it back anyway. It's evil. That golden-haired man said it was death."

"I want it back," Zimmy said again, leaning forward and glaring.

"You can't have it," Kat said. "It's going to be destroyed, and anyway, it's killing Annie. Why do you want it?"

"Give it to me!" Zimmy shrieked, and she launched herself off the table, slamming into Kat and knocking her against a bookshelf. Her head struck the wood, and then Zimmy's hands were around her throat, cutting off her air.

* * *

><p><em>Pain, tight and pinching, right down to the bone. Something had her pressed down tightly, and water filling up her lungs. But her neck… her neck had been broken. She couldn't move her hand, not even to pick up the golden ring just a few inches away from her. It was such a beautiful ring, and she wanted it so badly, but she would die before she was able to take it.<em>

* * *

><p>"Zimmy…" Kat gasped, trying to pull the other girl's hands away from her throat. Zimmy's grip was strong, though, and she was snarling like an animal. There was no way for her to escape.<p>

* * *

><p><em>The arrow had pierced her chest but not her heart, and so she lay drowning in her own blood. Her vision was going dark, but not so dark that she couldn't see the golden ring on her finger. It was still there, and so it must have been a mischance that the arrow had found her. She would be invisible, and unless she could take off the ring, she would remain that way until her body decayed, leaving the ring where she had died. But why would she want to take it off? It was her beloved, her precious, and would remain with her until the day she died.<em>

* * *

><p>"Zimmy… Zimmy, please…" It was getting harder to breathe by the minute, and already Kat could feel her knees buckling. Maybe if she passed out, Zimmy would let go, and she would have a chance to get away. Maybe she wouldn't be able to see those flashes, and she wouldn't have to think about those other people dying, or how the ring had led to their deaths.<p>

* * *

><p><em>It was cold, so cold she couldn't even imagine what it would feel like to be warm again. She only had the memory of warmth, and that was tied to one thing: a golden ring. It had been like a fire on her finger, and had hurt terribly the first time she had felt it, but now she would have given anything for that fire again. She would even have died for it, and in her last moments, she realized that she had.<em>

* * *

><p>"Zimmy! Enough!"<p>

The voice came from somewhere far off, somewhere people found air enough to talk. Kat tried to reach out for whoever spoke, but her hand only fell off Zimmy's arm and hung limply. That was all anything about her could do, and the only reason she wasn't on the floor was because Zimmy's hands were still around her throat, holding her up.

"Or what? You gonna light me on fire, Carver?"

Kat wanted to tell Annie to run, to get out and find Eglamore or Reynardine, someone who could properly fight. All that came out was a faint gasp, the last bit of air that had been left in her lungs.

"I just might."

But Annie's voice sounded stronger than it had before, and Kat couldn't understand why. She could hardly think. The only thing she could do was wait for everything to be over. It would soon enough, she was sure.

Zimmy snorted. "You couldn't – wait. You've got it. You've got my ring. Give it back!" With a wild cry, she released Kat, who dropped to the floor and sucked in desperate gulps of air. After a moment, she managed to open her eyes and twist her head enough to see.

Zimmy had launched herself at Annie, who struck her aside with a single blow, leaving a bright red burn on the side of her face. Something was different about Annie, but Kat couldn't tell what. As her thoughts came back to her, she realized it wasn't just one thing but a dozen. There was a light in her eyes that blazed like the hottest fire Kat had ever seen, and she stood straighter. Her hair shifted in an impossible breeze, but a blink later, Kat realized it reminded her more of fire than anything else. She didn't just look different; she _was _different, as though she had embraced being a fire elemental so completely that there wasn't any room for Antimony Carver.

And on her finger shone a golden ring, a ring that for barely a second Kat yearned for, but then she heard the golden-haired man's voice in her head again.

_L'anneau est la mort._

_The ring is death._

"Annie!" Kat yelled, but her voice was hoarse and barely made it out of her throat. She could only lie on the ground as Annie struck Zimmy again and again, leaving bright red burns on the girl's skin.

"You will not harm Kat again," Annie said as Zimmy shrank back from the flames now dancing on her fingers. "If you do, I will burn you to ashes. Do you understand?"

Kat didn't have enough voice to say that it had been the ring that Zimmy wanted, and not anything to do with her. She couldn't even tell Annie to stop, that she was going too far. The most she could do was push herself into a sitting position and watch as Zimmy scrambled away, leaving Kat and Annie alone in the library.

Once Zimmy was gone, Annie turned to Kat, and for a moment Kat thought she would be attacked too, though for what reason, she couldn't say. The light in Annie's eyes had dimmed, though, and she looked almost like herself again as she ran to Kat's side and knelt, wrapping her arms around her. "Are you all right?" she asked. "I'm glad I managed to find you before anything happened."

"I'm fine," Kat rasped. Even though she couldn't see it, she knew the ring was still on Annie's finger, and she imagined she could feel it through the back of her shirt. "Take off the ring."

"What?" Annie pulled back a little and frowned in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

"The ring," Kat said again, and she coughed a little from her aching throat. "Please, take it off. It's the reason Zimmy was attacking me."

Annie's eyes widened, and she looked over her shoulder, as though expecting to see Zimmy there again, watching from behind one of the bookshelves. "I didn't even realize I was wearing it," she said, and she pulled off the ring and stuck it into her pocket. The last hint of fire vanished, but she didn't slump over, exhausted. Instead, she helped Kat to her feet and pulled most of Kat's weight onto her shoulders. "Tell me what happened."

As she got her breath back, Kat told Annie about what she had been doing during her afternoon. She talked about not wanting to get in anyone's way, and about looking for Paz to say a quick good-bye. She told Annie about running into Zimmy in the library, and the strange things that had happened when Zimmy had touched her. She told Annie how strange it had looked to see her wearing the ring and looking so fiery, and when she finished, Annie was silent for a while, looking straight ahead.

"What brought you here?" Kat asked after a moment. "I thought Reynardine was going to make sure you got some rest."

"He did," Annie said. "I got plenty of rest. I woke up and felt great, and then… I just knew that something was wrong. I could feel it buzzing at the back of my neck. I told Reynardine to stay in the room and went out to see what was happening. I don't remember when I put the ring on." She frowned again, and her hand drifted to her pocket before she pulled it away. "Are you sure you're all right?"

"I'll be fine," Kat said, though her voice still rasped. "I just need a minute."

"Your neck looks like it's going to be bruised for a few days," Annie said, and for some reason, that made Kat smile. "What's so funny?"

"I'm not sure." Swallowing felt like trying to fit something past a coin wedged in her throat, but she still thought it would be a good idea to get something to drink. "Do you think I could get some water?"

"Of course," Annie said, and they headed down a flight of stairs. "I think we should put off leaving until you're ready to go. I'll tell Eglamore about the change of plans. And don't try to argue," Annie said before Kat could do just that. "You're coming with us, and I'm not going to send you into danger when you're hurt."

Kat smiled gratefully. "We should leave early, though. And don't forget to tell Reynardine he can leave the room."

Annie laughed, and if it sounded a bit more manic than usual, Kat was too tired to care. It still hurt a little to breathe, and she wanted nothing more than to curl up on a bed and find something cool and easy to swallow that would soothe her throat. They would leave early the next morning, and she wasn't about to let Annie talk her out of going or try to make them wait. The sooner the ring could be destroyed, the better.

After today, she trusted it even less than ever.


	7. Gunnerkrigg Court: A Hint of Magic

The encounter with Zimmy seemed to have left Kat exhausted, for as soon as Annie got her back to their room, she curled up on her bed and fell asleep. Annie knew she ought to get some water for her to drink when she woke, or perhaps go out to find Eglamore and tell him the plan. Instead, she sat on her own bed and watched Kat.

Her friend's neck was red, and Annie had no doubt that the next morning it would be covered in black and purple marks. Zimmy must have nearly killed her, and Annie's chest ached at the thought of what might have happened if she had been only a minute too late. What she still didn't understand was why Zimmy had attacked Kat. They had never been close friends, but she hadn't thought Zimmy would want to kill anyone. And where was Gamma? Ever since finding the ring, everything had changed, and Annie didn't know what would come next.

There was one thing she did know: she was filled with fire. Taking off the ring hadn't changed that, even though the flames had dulled a bit. She could still feel them burning inside her, woken by something she couldn't understand. She didn't know if she even had to understand it. It was a part of her, as much a part as her red hair. She would hold onto it as long as she could, and she wouldn't ever let it go.

Perhaps it was the thing that had a hold on her. She still thought she should have burned Zimmy, which was something she would never have considered before. But then, Kat had never been strangled in front of her before.

If she closed her eyes, she knew she wouldn't have to look at Kat any longer, but she still couldn't bring herself to look away. There was a small part of her that felt like this was her fault, or that she should have done something more to prevent it. There should have been something, anything she could have done, and because there wasn't, Kat had a bruising neck and a rasping voice.

"Annie? What's the matter?"

A furry muzzle nosed under her arm, and she pushed it away. "Not now, Reynardine," she muttered.

"You smell different," Reynardine said. "What happened to you and Kat?" When Annie didn't respond, Reynardine stuck his whole head through her arm and looked up at her. "Annie?"

"Shut up, Reynardine!" she hissed, shoving his head away from her and getting to her feet. She didn't want him to mock her for doing nothing or to tell her that she had been weak. She wanted… as she paced across the room, she realized that she didn't know what she wanted. She wanted Kat to be all right, of course, but beyond that, there was a hunger inside her that she couldn't name. It should have frightened her, but instead it made her angry, made her want to lash out and burn the first person she laid eyes on.

Her gaze fell on Kat, and she turned away quickly. Nothing could make her hurt her friend, not even this foreign hunger. As she whirled, she caught sight of Reynardine, and something inside her ignited. Her hand shot up, wreathed in fire, and she was ready to set him on fire, but she froze.

It was his eyes. She had bade him be silent – ordered him, she realized, and so he could not speak – but he could still reach her with his eyes. Reynardine looked at her pityingly, as though he wished he could give all the world just to help fix whatever was wrong with her, and she knew she couldn't hurt him when he looked at her like that. It would be nearly as bad as killing Kat, and no matter what excuse she could find for killing him now, there were just as many excuses to let him live.

Her hand shook, and she dropped to her knees, wrapping her arms around her waist. A few tears rolled down her cheeks, but she managed to keep herself under control until something warm and furry pressed against her. Reynardine was there, like he always was, and she flung her arms around him and buried her face in his fur. He sat beside her, still and silent, until she finished crying.

It felt like hours before she was able to get a hold of herself, though it likely had been less than one. When she was able to take a breath without crying again, she sat up and wiped the last few tears from her eyes. Reynardine watched her, still silent, and she waited for him to speak until finally she felt as though she couldn't be patient any longer. "Well?" she asked, only keeping her voice low because Kat was still asleep. "Aren't you going to say anything?"

Reynardine's only response was to give her a scathing look, and she remembered the order. It was almost enough to make her laugh, but instead she kept silent and rested her head against his side.

"I'm sorry," she said after a moment. "I don't know what's been happening to me. I felt exhausted earlier, like I was about to die, and then in the library I attacked Zimmy." But Zimmy had deserved it, she remembered. If it hadn't been for her, Kat might have died. "Then I almost attacked you, and before that I shouted…" Her voice caught in her throat, and she wrapped her arms around Reynardine again. "You can speak if you want to," she murmured. "I understand if you have nothing to say to me."

For a moment, Reynardine was silent, and Annie thought he might be angry enough with her to not want to speak. Just as she started to wonder whether he would ever speak to her again, he said, "I noticed that you have been different lately."

Annie nodded. "You said that I smell different. Do you think that's part of what happened?"

"I don't know," Reynardine said. He pressed his nose against her neck, and she felt his chest expand as he inhaled. "You do smell strange, though."

"What do you mean?" Annie asked. "What's changed about me?"

"I can't tell. This is like nothing I've ever smelled before. Although..." Reynardine gently disentangled himself from her arms and walked around her, sniffing again, though more slowly. "It's familiar somehow."

"I don't understand," Annie said. "How can it be familiar if you've never smelled it before?"

"I'm not sure. I…" Reynardine paused and nudged her hip gently with his muzzle. "What have you got in your pocket?"

"Nothing, I think," Annie said, sticking her hands into her pockets. One of her fingers brushed metal, and a little spark ran through her, clearing away the last of the melancholy she'd felt before. "Why do you ask?"

"Because that's where the smell's strongest," Reynardine said. He nudged her hand through the fabric. "What is it?"

"Nothing," Annie said, more firmly this time. She got to her feet and walked to her bed. "I'm tired. I think I'll get some sleep."

Reynardine followed her and sat at the foot of her bed. "If you won't tell me what's happening, I can't help you."

"Enough," Annie snarled, and she pulled a blanket over herself. Though she closed her eyes and lay still, it felt like hours before she was able to fall asleep, and when she did, her dreams were strange and dark.

* * *

><p>Something was wrong with Annie. Even if she wouldn't say it, Reynardine knew it was true. His nose had never lied before, when he was Reynard, and he didn't see why it would lie now, even though this wasn't his normal body but some strange wolf-like thing that had come from a child's toy. He could smell the difference on her, and that scent was like having thousands of spiders crawling under his skin. He wanted to whine and hide somewhere, but he couldn't just abandon her.<p>

That wasn't true at all. He could abandon her easily. The fact was that he wouldn't.

Even in this wolf-like body, he had other senses besides smelling. Though Annie appeared asleep and any human might mistake her for such, he could tell she wasn't. Her body was still tense, and her breathing was too quick and too steady. She was only pretending to be asleep to get him to leave her be.

Well, two could play at that. With a quiet sigh, Reynardine lay on the ground, rested his head on his forepaws, and waited.

He had a long time to wait. Whatever was bothering Annie must have been bad enough to keep her from sleeping, and worry gnawed away inside Reynardine's heart as he waited for her to sleep, or to wake and tell him what had happened, or to do anything except simply lie there and pretend all was well. He'd heard that with age came patience, but that seemed to only work for humans. His age had brought him nothing of the sort.

Still, he managed to wait, and when he was sure that Annie was fast asleep, he got to his feet, shifted his form to that of the toy, and climbed onto her bed. She shifted a little, and he froze, but after a moment she relaxed again, and he was able to carry on.

Annie hadn't bothered to turn the light out before getting into bed, and it was easy for him to see that she was worried about something. Her forehead was furrowed, and her mouth was slightly open as though she was about to speak. He was tempted to set a paw on her forehead and see whether that would ease her anxiety, but that might only wake her, so he burrowed under the blanket and crawled beside her, making his movements as small as he could.

Even as a toy, Reynardine still had use of his senses, and he could still smell the thing that was wrong. It came from the same pocket it had come from before, and he set to work getting it out. His paw wouldn't easily fit into Annie's pocket, and he often had to freeze when Annie would roll over in her sleep. Twice he got stuck under her hip, and multiple times he had to crawl over her, but he managed to work out the little thing and push it into the light so he could get a better look at it.

It was the ring.

To tell the truth, Reynardine thought it was a bit anticlimactic for such a small thing to cause such a change in Annie. Even knowing the story of the Raven King and how it had been created, he had thought it would be a little more exciting. But that was where the true danger lay. The ring looked so small and harmless that it had surprised even him, and he knew about the dangers. He knew the sort of dark magic that had gone into making it, and still he underestimated it. He'd even seen how it had affected Annie earlier and had nearly forgotten.

But maybe that was its plan. Whatever it wanted was something to do with Annie, and so long as Annie had the ring, it would be able to do what it pleased. There was something almost intelligent about it, and he knew he couldn't forget that.

It was a very good thing he didn't have fingers, Reynardine decided. If he had, he might have tried putting on the ring, just to see what Kat and Annie had seen, and that would only lead to something terrible happening. It wouldn't be nearly as bad as someone with actual power, like Coyote, getting his hands on it, but he was still powerful enough that it might be dangerous. Even Annie would be dangerous with it, since she was a fire elemental. Eglamore or Kat would be safe carrying it, and of the two, he trusted Kat more.

As he changed from a toy to the wolf-like thing, he realized that there was another person he wouldn't trust with the ring: Ysengrin. The thought of him with such a powerful and destructive tool was terrifying, and for the first time, he had second thoughts about sending Kat into the forest on such a dangerous task.

Unlike Annie, Kat slept peacefully, and Reynardine was hesitant to wake her. Her neck was badly bruised, and he wondered just what sort of destruction the ring had brought into their lives. It would have taken a great deal of force to hurt her so badly, and again he thought about leaving her at the court. They would lose an integral part of their team, but at least she would be safe.

If things could be simple enough for one girl's safety to be the most important thing, then Reynardine would gladly have left her at the court. Instead, he nudged her with his nose until she stirred and woke.

Kat opened her eyes blearily and rasped, "Is it time to go already?"

"Not yet," Reynardine said.

Kat groaned and pushed herself up onto her elbows. "Reynardine? What's going on?"

"Hush," Reynardine said. "I don't want to wake Annie. She's been through enough already." Besides which, given the way she'd yelled at Kat earlier for taking the ring, she would likely be very angry if she found out he had taken it from her while she slept. "I need your help."

Kat swung her legs out of bed and sat up. She still looked half-asleep, and if there were any way that Reynardine could have simply told her to lie back down and get some rest, he would have. Instead, he nudged her off the bed, and she joined him on the floor, sitting next to him and leaning a good part of her weight against his side. "With what?" she murmured, hiding a yawn behind her hand. "Is it to do with the ring?"

"Yes," Reynardine said. "What I know about it only comes from old stories. I need to know what it can do now."

Kat blinked slowly, but she looked more alert. Setting a problem before her was the best way he knew to get her to focus. "So why do you need my help?" she asked, leaning forward and peering at the ring. It reflected the light prettily, and looked perfectly harmless, but Reynardine was still tempted to pull her back from it so she wouldn't be hurt. "Annie's the one who knows magic. I just work with technology."

"You were the one who found the ring," Reynardine said. "That has to mean something."

"Or it's just a coincidence." Kat yawned again, but she looked much more awake, even though her voice still made Reynardine cringe. "I mean, Jones kind of found it. She just showed up at my lab and said she hoped she wouldn't find anything. And that mouse found it, too. It sat right in front of the drawer where it was and said it had been hurt by the ones who came before…" Kat gasped and sat up straight, pressing her hand over her mouth. "Do you think it knew something?" she asked, words slightly muffled by her fingers.

"It might have sensed something," Reynardine said. Though he was still worried about her, he knew now that Kat had to come along. The girl was brilliant.

"It can't have put it on; it didn't have fingers. Even if it did, the ring wouldn't have fit around one of them. It's shaped for human hands." Kat sprang to her feet, and Reynardine rose as well. "It must have sensed something, just like you said. Come on! Let's go see the other robots."

"What are we going to do when we get there?" Reynardine asked.

"We'll ask them if they can sense anything about the ring," Kat said. She took a few steps toward the door before turning and kneeling by Reynardine's side. "I almost forgot," she said, wrapping her arms around his neck. "Do you want to come with me? If you'd rather stay and watch over Annie, I understand."

Reynardine looked to Annie again. She was still fast asleep, and if he were to hop onto the bed and lie beside her, he might give her some comfort. But that would mean leaving Kat to walk through the halls of the court alone, bearing the ring, and though he trusted her, he was unwilling to put her through that. "I'll go with you," he said, and Kat smiled. "We'll have to be quick, though."

Kat nodded and rose again. "Annie wants us to leave early in the morning anyway," she said. After taking a few steps toward the door, she stopped again and turned. "Did she tell Eglamore the plan yet?"

"She hasn't left this room," Reynardine said.

"We'll have to find Eglamore and tell him about the new plan then," Kat said. She sighed and rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand. "It's a good thing I already got some sleep, huh? Well, let's go." Again, she started for the door, and this time Reynardine had to stop her.

"Did you want to bring the ring with you?" he asked.

"Right," Kat said, and she turned again and picked up the ring. A shadow seemed to pass over her, but before Reynardine could ask what was wrong, she pocketed the ring and left the room, turning out the lights behind her. Reynardine slipped out with her, and as soon as the door closed, they headed down the hall.

"Are you all right?" he asked as they headed through the silent court.

"Sure," Kat said. Her hand drifted down to her pocket, but she quickly pulled it away. "Why do you ask?"

"No reason." Perhaps he would have two people to be worried about on the journey.


	8. Gunnerkrigg Court: No Second Chances

The court was eerie at night, and if it hadn't been for Reynardine standing by her side, Kat would have been nervous. Rather, she would have been more nervous. Even with a wolf padding along beside her, she felt as though there was something trailing their footsteps, and every now and then she would glance over her shoulder. There was never anything behind him, but the feeling never left her.

"What's the matter?" Reynardine asked the first time she did it.

"Nothing," she said. She wasn't sure why she lied aside from, perhaps, not wanting to worry him. They both had more than enough to worry about with what was happening to Annie. Besides, she didn't even have any specific thing to fear. It was just a little whispering sense in the back of her mind, almost like magic.

But she had never had any skill in magic. Whatever power she did have was in mechanics and electronics, and she wasn't sure that would be helpful at all. The best thing she could do was what they were already doing: take the ring to the robots to see what they would say.

All the way there, Kat was paranoid about being spotted. She was partly worried over whatever that dark thing was that she had sensed, but she also couldn't tell whether there would be any teachers or other students wandering through the halls that might run into her. If she found Eglamore, she might be all right, but with anyone else, she would have to come up with a quick, clever lie, and she wasn't sure she could do that on the spot.

Or it could be Zimmy who would find them, and she might be so desperate for the ring that she would attack Kat again. Kat couldn't shake the thought of broken wrists or gouged out eyes, and she wouldn't have Annie there to save her that time, not unless Annie had found out about the missing ring and come to find her. In that case, she would have far more to worry about than an angry Zimmy. Annie might burn both of them away, and she couldn't tell whether Reynardine would even bother to save her or whether he would just let her be killed as easily as a butterfly being crushed.

"Kat?" Reynardine asked, and she realized she had stopped moving. "Kat, are you sure there's nothing wrong?"

"It's just…" She hesitated, not sure what she ought to tell him. "I'm just nervous. You heard about how the ring affected Zimmy, right?" She started walking again, and Reynardine kept pace with her. "I'm just afraid it'll affect Annie in the same way and she'll try to hurt me for taking it."

"Don't be afraid," Reynardine said. "I will not let any harm come to you. If that means I must defend you from Annie, then so be it."

If they hadn't been in such a hurry, Kat would have dropped to her knees and hugged him. As it was, she set a hand on his back and ruffled her fingers into his warm fur. He gave her a wolfish grin, and she suspected he understood what she meant.

As Kat led him down a flight of stairs, she realized that there was one other person connected to the ring that she might run into: Jones. She couldn't tell what that encounter might lead to, though, since the only way she knew Jones to be connected to the ring was from walking into her lab and inadvertently leading Kat to discover it. Maybe there was some deeper connection, but whatever it was, Kat couldn't figure it out. Either way, she wasn't sure she wanted to run into Jones so late at night, even if she had Reynardine to protect her.

They made good time and soon reached the part of the court where the robots lived. Reynardine bristled a little as they entered, but he stayed close to Kat. "Is something wrong?" she whispered.

"No," he replied. "I just haven't gotten used to metal people who can walk and talk."

"You're an ancient spirit stuck in a children's toy," Kat whispered back. "I think that's a lot stranger than robots."

Reynardine chuckled, and Kat managed to smile.

As soon as they reached the place where the robots had gathered, all of them rose and gravitated toward Kat, leaving a respectful distance so that she stood in the middle of a wide circle. "Angel," they murmured, and Kat supposed it was a little unnerving just how reverent they were towards her. They looked up at her, and she could almost feel the admiration on their faces, even though there was so little emotion they could show. She had gotten used to being called an angel, but for someone who hadn't been around the robots as often as she was, it would be strange.

One of the seraphs approached her. "How may we aid you, angel?"

"I need your help," she said, and reached into her pocket. The ring felt strange against her fingers, as though she wanted to grasp it tightly and yet never let it go. It was such a simple thing, just a bit of gold, and yet it held so much power. "I need you to tell me what you know about this."

As she drew out the ring, a murmur went around the circle, and they all drew back another step. Out of the voices, Kat could only pick out one word.

_Death._

She took a step closer to Reynardine, though she was sure she didn't have to be afraid of the robots. "The ring is death," she said, and in her voice she could hear the echo of the golden man who had called out a warning to her. "I already knew that," she said, raising her voice. "Tell me something more. I already know that it comes from the forest and it was created by the Raven King. I know we have to bring it back to that exact place to destroy it. Tell me something more."

The seraph looked up at her. "If you go to that place, one of you will die."

Kat shuddered. That one would be her; she knew it without knowing, just as she had known that something was watching her. Annie, Reynardine, and Eglamore could all take care of themselves. She was helpless, and if it weren't for the fact that she had already agreed to go, she might back out now. "Tell me something more," she said again. "Something useful."

"One of the creators of the ring yet lives," the seraph said. "She is very close, but I do not know what she intends."

Reynardine growled. "You haven't told us anything helpful," he snarled. "Speak, metal thing, or I will tear you apart and let another one of your friends try to explain what we need."

The seraph stepped away from Reynardine but was careful not to come too close to the ring. "I do not know how much more I can say," it said. "This thing is dangerous, and it will lead only to sorrow. Even if you manage to destroy it, you will be forever changed."

"How do you know all this?" Kat asked.

Another murmur went through the group of robots. "We know," the seraph said, but he explained nothing more and simply looked up at her.

It was almost impossible to get anything out of them, and Kat was tempted to go back to their room so she could at least try to get a little sleep before they left. She didn't want to be useless when it came time to leave, and she certainly didn't want to spend the whole first day grumbling about how tired she was. There was one more thing she needed to find out, though, so she clutched the ring in her fist and asked, "What did the ring do to the mouse?"

The seraph looked up at her. "The ring is death."

"But you're _robots_," Kat said. "You can't die. You're as close to immortal as anyone can be."

"The ring is death," the seraph said, and again the word _death _echoed around the circle of robots. Kat was starting to get fed up, and she tucked the ring back in her pocket. Whether it was death or some other kind of magic hardly mattered, since they were going to destroy it.

"Come on, Reynardine," she said, setting her other hand in his fur. "Let's go."

As they turned to leave, the seraph ran in front of them. "There's one more thing," it said. "You will only be able to try to destroy the ring once. There are no second chances with death."

Kat's fingers tightened around the ring instinctively, and she stepped closer to Reynardine. "We're leaving," she said, her voice sounding stronger than she felt. The robots parted, and they allowed her to leave. As soon as they left the room, Kat sped up, and Reynardine broke into a trot to keep pace with her. She moved as quickly as she dared, not slowing until Reynardine stepped in front of her and she nearly tripped over him.

"Wait," he said, and Kat took a step back. "We need to think about this."

"What's to think about?" Kat asked. "We need to get back to the room before Annie wakes up and realizes her ring is gone. Do you think you'll be able to get it back in her pocket without her noticing?"

"Let me worry about that," Reynardine said. "We need to talk about what the robots told us."

"They didn't tell us anything we didn't already know," Kat said. She tried to walk around him, but he stepped in front of her again. "I'd already heard that the ring is death." She'd heard it more times than she cared to remember, and the one that stuck in her mind was the golden man.

"We learned more than that," Reynardine said, and he sounded so annoyed that Kat decided to sit beside him. She wrapped her arms around him and pulled him down with her, and though he grumbled a little, he ended up resting his head on her shoulder and letting out a contented sigh. "We learned that one of the women who created the ring is close by."

"The one without a name or the one with many names," Kat said. "That doesn't help very much." She scooted back a little so her back rested against the wall. "Do you think she's in the court?"

"I don't know," Reynardine said. "I do know that we'll have to be careful. We can't tell if she wants it destroyed or would rather keep it around."

"Why would anyone want to keep it?" Kat asked. "If she knows how evil it is, wouldn't she want it destroyed?"

"Some people might prefer to keep their creations, no matter how evil they become." He nudged her, and Kat got to her feet, grumbling. She was already tired, and she wasn't sure how she would be able to wake up early enough to suit everyone.

"We know one other thing," she said as Reynardine rose and stretched. "We know that this is our only chance. We can't afford to mess anything up." Her hand slipped back into her pocket, and she ran her thumb around the circumference. It was warm to her touch and almost soothing, and for a moment she wondered why anyone would want to destroy it in the first place. Then she thought of Zimmy, and Annie, and the little mouse, and the warmth seemed to fade.

"We also know that someone will die," Reynardine said. He crept closer to her and looked up. "I don't want you to worry, Kat. All of us will protect you."

"I'm not worried," she said, though she swallowed nervously and set a hand on Reynardine's back, grateful for his presence and his warmth. It was completely different from how the ring felt, and she almost wanted to bury herself in it. Maybe that was why Annie clung to him so much.

"You're lying," Reynardine said. "What's the matter?"

"It's just…" She hesitated, then everything came spilling out in a rush. "I'm the one useless one in this group. Annie can light things on fire, and Eglamore can fight, and you're a wolf. I'm just a girl who knows how to handle robots. I can't do anything to defend myself or to defend anyone else. I'll just wind up standing around and being useless."

Reynardine stepped in front of her again and looked up at her sharply. "Katerina Donlan, you are not useless in any way. When we get out there, Annie will need you, even more than she'll need me. You won't need to defend yourself, because we'll all defend you."

"But then one of you will die!" A few tears came to Kat's eyes, and she hurriedly wiped them away.

"I would gladly die to protect you and Annie," Reynardine said, and he sounded so solemn that Kat couldn't think of anything to say in return. She just pushed open the door to her room and stepped inside.

Annie was still asleep, which was a relief, and Kat changed into some clothes that would be good for traveling in. She didn't think she would have much time to change the next morning. At Reynardine's nudging, she handed him the ring, though she was reluctant to give it away. He shifted back into his toy form, and she got into bed, pulling the blankets around her. She was wearier than she had thought she would be, and as she nestled into the sheets, she called sleepily, "Good night, Reynardine."

"Good night, Kat," she heard, and then she was fast asleep.

* * *

><p>There were times when Reynardine wished to be a dragon again. There had been something wonderful about having so much power, and now he was trapped inside the body of a child's toy, something fluffy and harmless, no matter how much power he tried to exert over it. Being a wolf felt better, he supposed, but there was still something soft and gentle about it.<p>

But then, he loved both of the girls, and perhaps there wasn't anything wrong with being soft around the people he loved.

He waited until Kat was asleep before creeping up onto Annie's bed to return the ring to her. It would be better if Annie didn't know at all that Kat was involved. If she thought it was just him, then he would be the only one she was angry with. It would hurt, but it was better she be angry with him than with Kat.

It was easier to return the ring than it had been to take it. He slipped against Annie and tucked the ring into her pocket. She shifted a little, uneasily, and for a moment he thought he had woken her, but then she rolled onto her other side and remained asleep. Reynardine relaxed, and though he wanted to curl up against her and sleep as well, he found that there was too much in his mind for him to have any satisfaction from sleeping.

One of them would die. He was sure it would be him; he wouldn't let anything happen to Annie or Kat while he was alive, and he doubted Eglamore was the type to die on a mission. The man could survive anything, and he could survive this.

Reynardine had never contemplated his own death before. He had always thought he would someday return to his body and be a fox again, even though it would mean leaving Annie. For now he was trapped as a wolf, and he had become content with that, but there had always been that thought that he could someday be himself again. Now, though, he knew that he would die before that happened, and though he tried to be content with that thought, it was difficult to bring himself to any sort of piece.

Annie wouldn't die. He would see to that personally if he had to. The same was true for Kat. But Eglamore… survivor though the man was, Reynardine wouldn't shed too many tears over the man. They had been friends once, but that time had passed, and if anyone had to die, Reynardine decided it would be best that it be Eglamore.

But that wasn't true at all, and he grumbled to himself as he tried to find a comfortable position to sleep in. He would mourn Eglamore, even if it wasn't as much as he would mourn Kat or Annie. He would even try to defend the man if he needed to. A friendship couldn't be easily tossed aside, especially since Eglamore wasn't the one who had ruined it. Reynardine had done that, and now perhaps he needed to make up for it. His death could give him some redemption.

He sighed and closed his eyes. They would be leaving in the morning, and that would come sooner than he hoped it might. A man, a fox in a wolf's body, and two girls… what chance did they have? But they had to take this chance, because they wouldn't have another.

No second chances. It was the worst thought anyone could have, because mistakes were a part of being alive. He had made many dozens of mistakes in his life, and he might well make many dozens more, unless that life was cut short by whatever was waiting for them in the forest. He hadn't thought he would be able to go back, but now he would find himself wrapped up in the danger there.

He pressed his nose to Annie. He set it against her cheek in something that was almost a kiss, and she smiled a little. He smiled as well as her arm wrapped around him and pulled him close, like a child.


	9. Gunnerkrigg Court: The Warrior

James Eglamore was afraid.

He wouldn't admit it to anyone, and certainly not to his companions. Annie and Kat would need him to be strong enough to protect them, and while he would have once trusted Reynardine with the knowledge of his fear, that time had passed long ago. Perhaps he could trust the fox now, but he wasn't willing to take that chance. It still felt like too much of a gamble to trust him with Annie's safety.

But he would have to trust. They needed four, and Reynardine was the best stand-in for the woman with many names, given how many skins he had taken in the past several years. He was the warrior with no name, of course, and Annie had to be the Raven King, leaving Kat as her companion. It had taken only half a night of thought to work out who would be who and what that could mean. He didn't know enough about this mission, and he needed to know as much as he could to protect the girls. He would do everything in his power to get them into the forest and back to the court safely, as the warrior surely would have done for John Uskglass.

The other half of the night was spent wondering whether any of them would survive the journey.

He had already decided that they ought to leave as early in the morning as possible, and once he had everything gathered, he worked his way through the court to the girls' room. He wasn't used to walking through the parts where the students lived, and the few times he had been there, it had been filled with people laughing and chattering. It was eerie for it to be so silent and almost deserted, and his skin crawled at the thought of it being nothing more than a tomb holding his companions. But he wouldn't show his fear, he reminded himself. He would be strong, for all their sakes.

He had to knock on the door twice before someone answered. Kat stood in the doorway, yawning and rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand, as though she had only managed a few hours of sleep. It wasn't her weariness that worried him, though, but the bruises around her neck. "Time to leave?" she asked, and he couldn't tell if her voice was raspy from sleep or from having been nearly strangled. It couldn't have been Annie, he told himself, but he couldn't think of anyone who would want to hurt Kat.

"If you're both ready," he said, and Annie appeared behind Kat. She looked stronger than before, which was a relief, and in her arms she held Reynardine, who looked still asleep.

"Sure," Annie said, and she gently guided Kat out of the room. When she looked at her friend, there was a protective harshness in her eyes, and Eglamore decided that it certainly couldn't have been her. He'd had good reason for doubting, though.

"I gathered enough supplies for a few days," he said, passing around the packs. Kat shrugged into hers, and Annie pulled Reynardine's over one shoulder and hers over the other. "Once those run out, we'll have to hunt and gather, but between me and Reynardine, we should do all right."

Kat made a face. "Does that mean I'll have to skin things?"

Eglamore grinned and led them through the passages, away from their room. "You'll learn," he said. "It's surprisingly easy to stop thinking things are disgusting when you need them to survive."

Kat mumbled something sleepily, and Eglamore did his best not to glance back, because he knew he would see those bruises more easily than he saw her. She was still a child, and she was likely one of the kindest people in the court. He never would have believed anyone would have hurt her, and certainly not so savagely.

After about half an hour, he heard Annie speak behind him. "Well, it's about time you're awake. Eglamore made you a pack, and you can carry it yourself." Something rustled, like a pack sliding off a shoulder and being wrapped around a wolf's body. "Why were you so hard to wake up, anyway? Did you stay up late with Kat, or something?"

"I had trouble sleeping," Reynardine said, and that was that.

But the gates had been opened to conversation, and Eglamore decided that now was as good a time as any to find out what had happened. He slowed a little until he walked beside Kat, who was still yawning, though the walking had woken her up a bit. She looked more alert than before, and she walked quickly enough that he didn't feel like he was wasting time by keeping pace with her. Just as he had thought, he saw the bruises more easily than anything else about her. His eyes were drawn to them, and he had to force himself to look up, at the way they had to walk. "Are you all right?" he asked, keeping his voice low.

"Yeah," she said, and blinked a few times as though surprised to see him there. "I'm just a little tired. Why?"

"Your neck."

She had raised her hand to cover another yawn, but now she touched one of the bruises and winced a little. "I'm fine," she said. "It doesn't hurt as much as it did yesterday."

"Who did this to you?" he asked, and though he knew his voice was rising, he didn't care. They hadn't even left the court, and already one of their number had been injured, and he hadn't been there to protect her.

Kat shifted her pack on her shoulders and looked down at her shoes. "Zimmy," she murmured.

Any answer would have dumbfounded Eglamore, and as they walked on, he found that he couldn't think of anything to say. What was there to say? Zimmy had attacked Kat, had throttled her hard enough to leave bruises a day later, and Kat was acting as though everything was all right. Well, perhaps not all right, but she certainly didn't seem to think it was as troublesome as he knew it was. "Tell me what happened."

Her pack shifted again. "Look, it really isn't that –"

"Donlan!" he snapped, and she froze, looking up at him. "Tell me what happened. I want to know everything."

She sighed. "I was looking for Paz so I could say good-bye, and I went into the library. Zimmy was there, and she started asking if I'd seen something. I didn't know what she was talking about, and then she grabbed me. I started seeing things, but they didn't make any sense." She frowned and bit her lip as though trying to remember. "They didn't all speak English. There were two women who spoke… Norwegian, maybe? And a man who spoke French. They all tried to warn me about something, and one of them told me that I had to live. Then I was back in the library, and Zimmy started talking about the ring. She said it had touched her, and that it had touched me, too, which was why I could see those thing, I guess. She said it had been hers, but then it went away. She wasn't the one to put it in my lab, and she didn't give it to the robots, either. She told me to give it back to her, and when I told her it was going to be destroyed, she…" Kat's voice broke off, and she pressed a hand against her neck, wincing again.

"And then she attacked you," Eglamore said.

Kat nodded. "I saw things, too, while she had her hands around my throat. It kept switching between those things and the library, and then Annie showed up. She burned Zimmy, and then Zimmy ran off, and Annie brought me back to our room. I fell asleep after that, and then…" She shook her head, as though reminding herself not to say what she had been about to talk about. "That's it. That's all that happened."

It wasn't all, but Eglamore was sure there were some questions Kat wouldn't want him to ask, at least not with Annie around. He wasn't about to give up completely on understanding, though. "Why didn't Gamma try to stop Zimmy?" he asked. "I don't think she'd just stand around and let her attack you."

"Gamma wasn't there," Annie said. "I don't know where she was, but it was just Zimmy in the library."

Kat nodded. "I didn't see her at all, and Zimmy said she hadn't seen her. She also said that she didn't need her then, but I don't know what she meant."

Eglamore wasn't sure he would like knowing what Zimmy had meant, but he just pulled his pack up more against his back. "Don't worry," he said. "Once we're out of the court, you won't have to worry about Zimmy attacking you, and I won't let her touch you if she finds us here." He wouldn't hurt Zimmy – not badly, anyway – but he would make sure that she didn't lay a hand on Kat.

"I already protected Kat," Annie said. "I burned her in the library, and I don't think she'll try anything again."

Reynardine slipped up beside Kat and nosed her elbow gently. "We will all protect her," he said, and Eglamore couldn't be sure whether the wolf was talking to him, to Annie, or trying to reassure Kat. "She is ours to keep safe."

Kat smiled a little and rubbed Reynardine's head with a smile. "Thanks," she said. "I wish I weren't so useless. And don't tell me I'm not," she added, looking around at everyone fiercely enough that Eglamore decided she would certainly be all right, at least as long as she got some sleep. "I know I can't fight as well as any of you, and I don't think we'll run into any computers or robots that I can work with, but I'll do whatever I can to help. I'll even skin rabbits if I have to." She sounded a bit less sure on that point, and wrinkled her nose.

"I'll teach you what you need to know," Eglamore said. "I'll even help you learn how to fight." He doubted she would be able to pick up much on the road, but she might learn enough to take care of herself. If she was able to defend herself, that was all he could ask.

"You don't have to be useful to be important," Annie said, coming up behind Kat and draping an arm over her shoulders. She was smiling brightly, and it felt natural to see the two of them walking so close together. Kat was almost smiling as well, and Eglamore let himself feel a little hopeful. Maybe things would work out for the better. Maybe they would even all come back alive.

"She's right," he said, and explained his theory about each of them standing in for one of the people. Annie looked curious and Reynardine was inscrutable as ever, but Kat looked a bit nervous. "Is something wrong?" Eglamore asked.

"No," Kat said.

"You can tell us, you know," Annie said. She looked almost energetic, and Eglamore wondered what could have changed during the night, but before he could ask, she went on, "It only makes sense that Kat would be my companion, though. John Uskglass was human with a fairy, and I'm a fire elemental with a human. It's like a mirror." She frowned a little. "But why would you be the one without a name? I would have thought you'd be the knight."

"I'm more likely to not have a name than Reynardine is," Eglamore said.. He wondered if he ought to tell them sometime, or whether it would be best to keep his own secret. After a moment, he decided to wait until he was sure that they had to know. They were all entitled to their own pasts.

Reynardine growled a little, but it wasn't an unfriendly growl. It sounded almost pleasant, like a humorless chuckle. "This name, Reynard, is one given to me by others. My own name – my true name – is older than any of you would know. It is of the earth and the sky and the sea, and none of your tongues could even come close to pronouncing it." He looked up at them then and grinned. "Was that eerie enough to suit you, or should I find something else mystical to say?"

"I think the mysticism can wait," Eglamore said, and he found himself smiling as well. "It might be that we'll find more than enough cause for eeriness without your help."

"We've already found some," Kat said. She looked directly ahead as she spoke, and if it weren't for the fact that he could think of no one else to stand in for the fairy companion, Eglamore would have gladly had her stay at the court for her own safety. "I went to see the robots last night, and they told me that one of the makers of the ring is nearby. It's one of the women. They also said there wouldn't be any second chances. We have to get this right."

"I intend to," Eglamore said. "Was there anything else?"

Kat glanced down at Reynardine, who said, "They also said that one of us will die. I suppose I might as well be the one."

"No," Annie said sharply. "No one is going to die. I won't let that happen." She strode on ahead, and Eglamore sped up to keep pace with her, glancing back over his shoulder from time to time to make sure Kat and Reynardine could keep up. Kat still looked tired, but Reynardine stood close enough to support her. It would likely be a short day so Kat could get some sleep, but he would have to get them further the next day. As long as they made it out of the court before nightfall, though, he would be content no matter how far they went.

The silence now felt strange and seemed to weigh heavily on everyone. "So," Eglamore said, and Annie glanced up at him. He could almost feel Kat and Reynardine watching him as well, waiting for him to speak. "We know that one of the makers is close to the court, and that it's either the lady knight or the woman with many names. We don't know where she is or whether we'll be able to avoid her."

"Do we even want to avoid her?" Kat asked. "Maybe she'll be able to help." Everyone looked back at her, and she ducked her head, blushing. "Never mind," she mumbled.

"Kat's right," Reynardine said. "It could be that whoever this woman is might be willing to help us destroy the ring." Kat looked down at him, surprised, and Reynardine nosed at her elbow before speeding up a bit and drawing Kat after him.

"She won't be able to come with us, though," Eglamore said. "Not unless one of us leaves." Even then, it might work better with the four of them; they had a bond that the original four might have had, and sending one away might disrupt that and mean the spell wouldn't work. Taking on the woman would also mean either he or Reynardine would have to leave, and he doubted the wolf would be any more willing to abandon the girls than he was.

"I wouldn't ask either of you to leave," Annie said. "We can do this without any help."

"But a little help might be useful," Kat said. "I think we should find out what we can." She nodded once, as though she had just come to this decision and was still trying to convince herself that it was the right one. "What do you think?" She looked at Eglamore, and he supposed he shouldn't have been at all surprised that the choice would come to him. Aside from Reynardine, he was the oldest, and while Annie was the one with the ring, he was the one most likely to become the leader.

"I agree with Donlan," he said, "but we should be cautious. I don't want to start this off with danger." With more danger, rather; though he was getting used to seeing the bruises on Kat's throat and knew they would fade within a few days, he still had trouble believing anyone could hurt her that way, or even at all.

The court would begin to wake up soon, and Eglamore didn't care to have anyone see them leave. He didn't want to deal with questions or drawn-out good-byes. Even if Paz were to appear, he would hurry Kat along, though he might allow her a few words. But Kat wouldn't have to worry about saying something she wouldn't have the chance to say again. She would make it back alive and unharmed, even if he had to die to ensure that. One of them would die, after all, and it might as well be him. Reynardine could see the girls back as well as anyone else.

Secretly, he hoped that he would be able to walk out alive, with both Annie and Kat standing beside him. But he would never say that aloud, and he hardly dared to think it. Reynardine had been his friend, years ago, and perhaps he ought to be again.

They left the court at dawn and started down the bridge. The alarms were off, but they would be on again in less than an hour, so he had to move quickly. Something was at the far end of the bridge though, and as he drew closer, he saw that it was someone. His steps slowed, and Kat gasped behind him. Still, he kept walking, determined not to stop for anyone who happened to block his way, not even if that anyone was Jones, silent and impassive.


	10. Gunnerkrigg Court:The Lady of Many Names

Jones stood at the far end of the bridge, looking as calm as when she had entered Kat's lab. The memory was more unnerving now than Kat had thought it would be, but then, it had every right to frighten her. It was like Jones had known that there was something there, but Kat couldn't tell whether the woman had been looking for the ring or simply trying to tell her it was there.

If it was either, then why?

Eglamore continued walking until he stood only a few feet from Jones, where he stopped. Annie stopped beside him, and Kat and Reynardine stood on his other side. Everyone else looked determined, and so Kat tried to set her jaw and look strong, but she was still sure that Jones could see her legs shaking.

"We need to pass," Eglamore said after a moment. "The alarms will turn back on soon, and I'd rather not be caught by them."

Jones made no response but simply let her gaze roam up and down the small line. Kat supposed they were a rather ragtag sort, and while that might have been charming in a story, there was something a bit frightening about knowing she was part of one in real life. They had a warrior, a wolf, and a fire elemental, but only one of those had actually fought, and the wolf was secretly a stuffed toy. She was just a student, and she'd only ever gone on short camping trips when she was younger, with plenty of food and a comfortable tent. This time, she wasn't even sure they had brought sleeping bags.

"Where are you planning to take these children?" Jones asked. "There are too many supplies for a short trip into the forest." Her gaze rested on Kat, who had the sudden sense that she was being measured. "Katerina Donlan is not the sort who I would have thought eager to go into Gillitie Wood."

"I've been there," Kat said, but she spoke quietly and couldn't be sure if anyone had heard her. None of them looked at her, so she dropped her gaze to her shoes, hoping she wasn't blushing too much. She hadn't been far into the wood, and she supposed she ought to be glad no one had pushed her for where she had gone there. It had only been a little ways in on a flying machine to save Annie, and there hadn't been all that much danger to her. Things would likely be different now, and she wondered if there was enough time for her to run back and design a flying machine to carry all of them into the wood safely.

"You must have some business there, James," Jones said, looking at Eglamore again. "What do you have planned?"

First Jones had been in the lab, just before Kat had found the ring. Now she stood at the edge of the bridge, and while they could possibly walk past her, she was still blocking their way. It could have been a coincidence, but with everything else that had to be set up just right, Kat wasn't so sure there were coincidences in this quest. Jones knew something, and as the woman continued to watch Eglamore, Kat crept around behind Reynardine.

Maybe someone noticed her, but if they did, they said nothing, and Kat was able to slip up next to Eglamore unremarked. "Is it her?" she whispered, standing on her toes to get a bit closer to his ear.

Her voice caught everyone's attention that time, and Kat shrank a little under everyone's stares. Reynardine standing beside her made her feel a bit stronger, but she still wanted to duck behind Eglamore and hide, even though she knew that wouldn't do anything to help. At least Eglamore's eyes were softer than Jones's, though he still looked confused. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"Jones," Kat said, and she took a deep breath. "Is she the maker that the robots told us about?" She didn't know why she assumed Eglamore would know; Reynardine might have been a better one to ask, or the robots themselves, but it was too late to take her words back now.

"She might be," Eglamore said, at the same time as Jones took a step forward. Like a flash, Reynardine darted in front of Annie, who set a hand on his shoulder. Jones's attention was on Kat, though, and again Kat had that unnerving feeling that she was being measured by the woman's eyes and that she might be found lacking.

"How did you guess?" Jones asked.

"The robots told me one of the makers was nearby," Kat said. "I really was just guessing. Are you, then?"

"I am."

Annie stepped forward, Reynardine still by her side. "Will you let us pass? We need to destroy the ring before it has the chance to harm anyone else." Annie sounded like a proper hero now, and as Jones turned to her, Kat decided she was perfectly happy being a sidekick. It wasn't as though she could do anything heroic, and if her one purpose on this quest was to be a companion, then she would fill that need as best she could.

"I will not stop you," Jones said. "I only wish to give you a warning. My companions and I had only one chance to create the ring, and so you will have only one chance to destroy it." She looked up and down the line again. "You already knew this. Did you also know that one of you will not return?"

"We did," Reynardine said. "You don't need to try to frighten us."

"I was merely giving a warning," Jones said. "As it happened then, it will happen now. The ring has the power to call forth echoes and twist them."

"Do you know who will die?" Kat asked, and she closed her mouth quickly, hoping no one would pay any attention to her. Her voice had been shaking, and she suspected she would just embarrass herself if she tried to say anything more.

Jones looked over the group again. "I cannot say." She stepped to the side, standing so close to the edge that she looked as though she would fall over the side. Her body was as rigidly held as ever, and she stood as though she was standing on solid ground that stretched out for miles.

"Which one were you?" Kat asked, unwilling to stop herself, but then Eglamore had her elbow in his hand and was pulling her along the bridge. They left the court behind and stepped into the forest, a group of four vanishing easily among the trees and undergrowth. The sun had risen above the horizon now, and the early morning light spread long shadows across the green grass that would shrink in the coming hours.

Kat was still tired, or she would have noticed how beautiful the forest was. Even now, as she stumbled along, trying to keep up with Eglamore's long strides, she could see that it was breathtaking, albeit in a soft, subtle way. It was nothing at all like the places she was used to in the court; if there was metal here, it was hidden in the ground, deep enough that she wouldn't be able to reach it without mining equipment. The only life here had been created by other life and was natural, though Kat would have defended the artificial life of the court as strongly as she could if anyone had dared to say that the creatures in the wood were better than her robots.

It wasn't like the sort of nature she was used to, either. There was something more wild and strange about Gillitie, something that pricked at the edge of Kat's senses and made her want to shrink closer to the other three. None of them seemed bothered by it, and she wondered whether that was because she belonged someplace tucked among robots and equations rather than out beneath the open sky, surrounded by trees and plants.

"Slow down a bit," Annie called after a while of quick walking, and as Eglamore eased his pace, Kat gasped in relief. She had been too nervous to ask him to slow down, but now that Annie had spoken, she had a bit of a chance to rest her legs. Even if they didn't stop, it was enough of a relief to slow down.

"I'm sorry," Eglamore said. "I didn't realize I was moving too quickly." He led them through the trees at an easier pace, and for the first time, Kat noticed that there was a path beneath her feet. There was a lot she hadn't noticed from their speed, and she was able to see the different shades of green in the leaves, along with the way the branches shifted against the sky and made the shadows move along the ground. She also noticed that she was hungry, but she didn't dare speak up. She was still aware of how quickly he had grabbed her to pull her along, and she was sure she must have said something wrong. Maybe someone would tell her exactly what it had been later on, once they were safer inside the forest.

There was something odd about the thought that they might be safe in the forest, and Kat would have smiled if she hadn't been so hungry. She hadn't eaten since the day before, and even that had been before Zimmy had attacked her. They would have to stop to eat sometime, since both Annie and Eglamore also had to eat, and she knew Annie hadn't had breakfast yet either.

The thought of Zimmy was able to take Kat's mind off her stomach, but only for a few minutes, when she decided she might well be safer out in the forest than at the court. As Reynardine had said, she had people to protect her, and she doubted Zimmy would have followed them out just for the ring.

At least, she hoped Zimmy wouldn't have done that. If she wanted the ring back so badly, maybe she would charge across the bridge and come after them.

Maybe stopping her was how Jones would help them.

They walked on for a while longer, and Kat found herself wishing she knew how to tell time in her head. It probably hadn't been an hour since they had left the court – it wasn't nearly long enough for that, though she couldn't be sure – but it felt like much longer than a few minutes. Half an hour, maybe, and she realized she didn't know how long they had walked through the court. She didn't even know what time she had woken up; Eglamore's knocking had gotten her out of bed before she could check her clock.

Kat looked at the shadows again. They were shorter than when the group had entered the forest. Kat decided to call it a bit before nine thirty. That would be a perfect time for breakfast, if Eglamore had any intention of stopping.

It didn't seem as though he did, and Kat was too busy looking around and worrying about what they would face to even remember that he still had her elbow in his hand. It took Reynardine to point that out, which he did with a somewhat amused-sounding cough. Kat hadn't even known a cough could sound amused, but apparently Reynardine could do just about anything.

"Is something wrong?" Eglamore asked, looking over his shoulder at the wolf.

"I was wondering when you intended to let go of Kat's arm," Reynardine said. "I think she can walk perfectly well on her own, though both girls might be too hungry to admit it." The wolf grinned and loped up to join the two of them. "What do you think, Kat? Would you like me to catch you a rabbit?"

Kat couldn't help making a face, and Eglamore quickly released her arm. "There's food in everyone's packs," he said. "We can get breakfast out of there, and Reynardine can hunt for our lunch, if he wants."

That was all the invitation Reynardine needed to bound off into the undergrowth, and the remaining three settled under a tree to eat. Breakfast turned out to be some granola and dried fruit from Annie's pack, and while Kat would have preferred some oatmeal and scrambled eggs, she was hungry enough that she would have eaten just about anything. Even the rabbit Reynardine had offered sounded appetizing, as long as it was cooked and had a bit of seasoning.

"I'm sorry about earlier," Eglamore said once they had finished and were waiting for Reynardine to return.

"It's okay," Kat said with a shrug. Now that she had some food in her stomach, her body seemed to have remembered that it was tired, and she hurried to hide a yawn behind her hand. "Did I say something wrong back there, though?"

Eglamore shook his head. "It was good of you to ask questions, but you need to remember to be careful. Not everyone is as safe to be around as Jones. I promise I won't drag you away as forcefully again unless you're in real danger." He smiled a little, and Kat smiled back. This was the sort of adventure she could get used to; a bit of fear that turned out to be for nothing, followed by food and friendship. If the rest of the journey turned out to be this easy, she would be perfectly happy with it, though she was sure things would be more difficult later on. One of them was going to die, after all, and if this journey was like the other, then she only knew that either Eglamore or Reynardine would survive.

As though she had picked up her friend's thoughts, Annie said, "Jones has been around for millennia. She must have gathered countless names. Do you think she could be the lady knight?"

"It's possible," Eglamore said, though the thought seemed to make him anxious. He looked over his shoulder in the direction Reynardine had gone said added quickly, "He's taking quite a while out there, and it'll take longer to cook whatever he finds. If the two of you want to get some sleep, now would be your best chance."

Kat wasn't as tired as she had been before, but an invitation to nap was something she would gladly accept, and she leaned against Annie, using her friend's shoulder as a pillow. Annie didn't seem to mind, and she even wrapped one arm around Kat and gently stroked her hair, murmuring quietly. It could have been stories or poems or just nonsense syllables strung together in a soothing pattern, and Kat wouldn't have cared. She closed her eyes and let her mind drift off. As she slept, she caught a few bits of conversation, but most of it floated away from her thoughts.

"I don't care what happens to me. Kat's the one who has to get back alive."

"I'll save both of you if I can."

"Kat's the important one. No, I don't care. She's important to me, and I won't have her die. If it's a choice between me and her, choose her. If it's a choice between me and Reynardine, choose Reynardine."

"Carver –"

"I'm not going to argue with you. We already know you're going to live, so you have to try to protect the others."

"We don't know that."

"You'll live. That's final. I'm done arguing."

The argument bothered Kat, though she was too tired to really know why. It did bother her enough that she opened her eyes, and when she looked around, she saw that her pillow was now Reynardine, and Eglamore and Annie sat beside a fire, cooking what might have been rabbit or something else. Kat shifted a little, drawn to the rich smell of cooking meat, and Reynardine rose to help her sit up.

"Don't worry," he said quietly. "It wasn't an animal that could talk."

"Oh." Kat hadn't even known she'd needed to worry about that, and a sudden paranoid thought that she had crushed dozens of talking ants struck her. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it." Reynardine shook himself off a little and joined Eglamore and Annie by the fire. Both of them were silent, but Annie gave Kat a quick smile as she followed Reynardine.

"I was going to wake you up in a few minutes," Annie said as Kat sat down. Kat leaned against Annie's shoulder again, and this time Annie's smile lasted a little longer. "Did you have a good nap?"

"Yeah," Kat said. "How's everyone else?"

"We're fine," Eglamore said quickly, and Kat thought she saw him give Annie a warning glance. She didn't know what the glance meant, for it vanished in a moment, and Annie's face gave no hints as to her thoughts until she pulled Kat a bit closer and widened her smile.

"I was just thinking about a few years ago," Annie said, leaning closer to Kat so she could whisper. "Remember back when we were younger? You would have been thrilled to have Eglamore holding your arm for so long." She nudged Kat's ribs gently with her elbow, but she needn't have, because Kat was already laughing to hide her embarrassment.

"Oh, man! I was such a weird kid, wasn't I?" Her face was growing hot, and she glanced at Eglamore to see if he had heard. He looked confused, so she relaxed a little.

"I'm sure there were others who would have agreed with you," Annie said with a grin.

Kat nodded and looked at Eglamore, hoping her blush had faded. Even now, she had to admit he was handsome, though she wasn't nearly as interested in him as she had been years ago. She was fond of him, though, and they shared a smile as she helped gather the cooked rabbit.


	11. Gunnerkrigg Court: Finding a Path

The first day went remarkably well, and Kat found herself almost enjoying the walk through the forest. It was an even more beautiful day than the day she had found the ring, though that could have been because she was outside in the sunshine and could see all of it rather than being curled up in her lab and only seeing what the window showed her. It was warm enough to be pleasant but not so warm that she started hating the walk, and there were enough shadows that the sunlight wasn't bright enough to hurt her eyes. There were a few clouds, too, but no rainclouds, and gentle breeze that rustled the leaves couldn't reach low enough to find them. The dangerous part of their adventure seemed far enough away to hardly worry over, and Kat found herself thinking that this might almost be easy. All they had to do was follow the path there and back again.

It was a very useful path, too. It wound and wove at times, but for the most part it led them in a straight line, deeper into the woods. It was wide enough that two people could walk side-by-side, though often Eglamore walked in front while Annie, Kat, and Reynardine stood in a row in the back, the two girls being nearly shunted off into the grass. Kat never strayed from the path, though Annie occasionally would to gather a few berries or pick a flower, and half the time Reynardine was bounding through the grass and burrowing through shrubs as though he didn't have a care in the world. They made good progress, or at least Kat thought they were making good progress. Eglamore didn't turn to complain about how slowly they were moving, and they were able to keep up with the pace he set.

If this was how most adventures went, then Kat could certainly see why people would go on them.

She wasn't the only one in a good mood. Annie was smiling, and Kat only saw her reach toward her pocket once during that whole day. Reynardine looked like was a normal, cheerful dog, and once Kat thought she even caught him humming. Eglamore was the only one who still looked dour, but since he stood ahead of them, Kat didn't have to pay too much attention to his expression.

She still couldn't forget that one of them would die, though, and the thought would come to her at the strangest times. She would hear a bird singing above her and suddenly wonder which of them wouldn't make the return trip. She and Annie would share a smile, but there would be a shadow lying over it, as though reminding them that it couldn't last. Reynardine would bound from Eglamore back to the two of them, and Kat couldn't help thinking about how he had promised to protect her, even if it meant he would die. Eglamore had promised to protect her, too, and so had Annie, and she wondered how strange it would be if she never made it back to Gunnerkrigg Court. Her parents would miss her, and so would Paz, but she wouldn't know a thing about it.

Kat tried not to feel melancholy, but by the time they stopped for dinner and finished off the rabbit that Reynardine had caught, she felt as though a darkness had settled on her shoulders. The fire danced merrily, and Annie looked almost cheerful as she lay down to sleep, but Kat couldn't bring herself to smile back at her friend as she curled up on the grass.

"What's wrong?" Annie asked, rolling over to be closer to her. Eglamore had taken the first watch, and he sat with his back to the fire, looking out at the dark forest that now felt more like an enemy than a friend. If he heard Annie's question, he didn't show it.

"Nothing," Kat said, but when Annie nudged her, she gave in. "I just realized that there's no turning back. We have to see this through, even if it kills one of us." It would kill one of them, but she couldn't bring herself to say that just then. "I'm scared, Annie. Soon I'll be farther from my family than I've ever been."

"Don't worry," Annie said, wrapping her arms around Kat. "I'm here. I know it's not much, but I hope it can be enough."

Kat nodded and closed her eyes. On her other side, she felt Reynardine pressing himself against her body. It was almost too warm, but she didn't want to push either of them away. The forest at night was dark and frightening, but with both of them, the strange noises seemed farther away and the darkness less unnerving. She felt almost safe.

* * *

><p>The next morning, Kat felt a little better and very hungry. They ate more granola and dried fruit, and though Kat would have preferred a large plate of raspberries, she had to be content with what they had. The food had to last as long as possible, and Reynardine brought back a large bird to serve as their lunch and dinner. It looked large enough to last for days, but Kat was sure that if she was as hungry later as she was now, it wouldn't last until tomorrow morning. Eglamore had her sit by his side as he plucked the feathers, and though Kat couldn't quite look as he skinned and cleaned the bird, she did know the basics of how to do it.<p>

"We did better than I thought yesterday," Eglamore said as the bird roasted. "If we can keep up that pace, we should reach the place very soon and be back before summer."

Kat pulled her knees up to her chest. She hadn't even thought it would take that long. A week, maybe two, and then they would be back home and safe. For some reason, her first thought wasn't of how long she would be away from home but about how many classes she would miss. Maybe she would be held back because she had missed too much.

Annie didn't seem to be bothered by how long they would be gone, and she petted Reynardine's head absent-mindedly as she asked, "You know where we're going, then?" She didn't sound doubtful but as Kat looked to Eglamore, she realized that he might be the one of them who best knew where they would go, and the most she and Annie knew was that it would be deep in the forest.

"I know part of the way," Eglamore said. "I think you and Reynardine might be more useful the deeper we go. Reynardine is more familiar with Gillitie Woods than I am, and the ring might be able to guide us a little."

Annie frowned, and though her hand started to drift to her pocket, Reynardine rolled onto his back, and Annie rubbed his stomach, smiling a little. "Are you sure we should trust it? It might not want to be destroyed, and it might lead us somewhere else to keep itself safe."

"Zora?" Reynardine suddenly shot to his feet and bolted into the forest. A moment later, he returned, seemingly unaware of how startled everyone was. He settled beside them and rested his head on Annie's lap. "The ring will be tied to the place it was made," he said, as calmly as though nothing had happened. "It will be drawn there, whether it wishes to remain safe or not. The closer we get, the more Annie will be drawn to the area where it was created."

Eglamore stared at Reynardine as though he had just seen the ruins of London. "How did you know that name?" he whispered.

"I found it in a library," Reynardine said with a yawn. "Does it matter?"

Eglamore looked dangerous enough that Kat shrank back nervously. "It matters," he said, and his voice sounded sharp enough to slice through bones. "If you've been keeping something from us, it matters a great deal. Now tell me, Reynardine, how do you know that name?"

Reynardine lifted his head, the joy of before fading away. "I can't tell you that, but I can tell you that Zora was the name of John Uskglass's fairy companion. I can also tell you that I thought I saw him, but it was only a shadow." He lowered his head again and sighed. "I had hoped to find some answers, but I found only the wind."

"That isn't enough of an answer," Eglamore said, but then the bird was done cooking, and he looked away from Reynardine to store it properly. Kat and Annie gathered up their supplies, and they all got set to leave. "I'll expect something better next time."

Reynardine gave no answer, and for most of the day, he walked apart from the group. He was close enough that Kat could see him, and she knew that if there were any trouble, he would run to join them in an instant. Still, she wanted to go over and join him, even though she knew she had to stick close to Annie and Eglamore. Reynardine probably didn't want to talk to anyone, given how he'd stormed off, so rather than join the wolf, Kat contented herself with glaring at Eglamore's back as they walked.

"He has a point," Annie whispered as they walked along. "If Reynardine knows something, he ought to tell us. Learning anything might be able to help us."

"He didn't have to be so harsh," Kat said, shooting another glare at Eglamore's back. "Reynardine probably had a good reason for not telling us. And we do know something more now. We know the name of the fairy companion, and that Reynardine knew him. Or her," Kat amended, realizing that Zora could be a name for just about anyone.

"It's still not enough," Annie said, and she glanced over to where Reynardine was walking. "Maybe I'll ask him later. He might talk to me." She sighed and sped up a little, and Kat hurried to keep up. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Reynardine speeding up as well, staying parallel to them even though he was still far away.

Reynardine did return when they stopped for lunch, but he didn't stay for long. Eglamore had apparently decided against asking him any questions, but Annie hadn't, and she tried for a few minutes before realizing that Reynardine wasn't going to say anything. Annie turned away in annoyance, but Kat slipped a bit closer to him as she gnawed on a drumstick. It didn't taste like anything she recognized, but it was good nevertheless. "You could tell us," she said quietly, trying not to let any of the others hear her. "It would be really helpful."

She expected him to tell her off for joining the others in pestering him, but instead he simply looked at her and replied, "I would tell you if I could. There are some things you don't yet understand, and some things I hope you'll never understand. If it ever reaches a point where I must tell you, then I promise that I will. Until then, please wait." He pressed his nose gently against her neck, and it wasn't cold enough that she jumped away.

"I'll try," Kat said. "I don't know how patient the others will be."

"Let me worry about them," Reynardine said. "You just worry about having to survive through the journey." He must have noticed how bleak his words sounded, for he added, "Worry about learning how to pluck a bird. I don't think Annie wants to eat burned feathers."

They moved on as soon as they had finished eating, though Kat still felt a bit hungry. She supposed she would just have to get used to it. When they got back, she would have to indulge herself in as much ice cream as she could. Ice cream, and chocolate, and bread slathered with honey and bananas…

The day had been just as beautiful as the day before, and Kat didn't realize things were changing until she found herself almost walking next to Eglamore. He was still moving, but he had slowed down enough for her to catch up in her distraction. He didn't seem to notice that she was next to him, and she had a chance to see a concerned look on his face before he did notice her and forced himself to smile. "What's wrong?" she asked.

"We've lost the path," he said quietly.

Kat looked around and realized that he was right. The straight path that had been beneath their feet had vanished and was replaced with a layer of rotting leaves leftover from autumn. The ground was softer here, and it sank and crunched beneath her feet. She wondered how she could have missed that, and how she could have missed noticing the moss-covered stones that were now all around them. There were fewer trees, and the ones that were still around them were tall and lean, with gray bark and heavy coats of moss on the northern sides. The branches were angled up, as though the trees wanted to protect their leaves for whatever was below.

"Should we go back and find it?" Kat whispered. This felt like a place to whisper; she didn't want anything around here to hear her voice.

"There's nothing to find," Eglamore said. "The path ended."

"Are you sure?" Kat looked over her shoulder. She could still see Reynardine, like a white shadow moving through the growing mist, and Annie was back there too. She looked pale and nervous, her bright red hair the only speck of color aside from the rich greens all around them.

Eglamore nodded. "I would have seen if there was a turn. The path's gone. We'll have to either find a new one or make our own." The ground sloped a little, and he offered Kat a hand in navigating around a large rock. "Personally, I think we ought to avoid paths altogether. They'll make us easier to track, and I think we ought to stay out of sight as much as possible."

Kat shuddered. "Do you think someone might be following us?" She thought suddenly of Zimmy tracking them through the wood, hunting them with her strange, hollow eyes and sharp teeth.

"It's possible," he said. "But don't worry. We'll protect you." He gave her a quick smile, but she couldn't return it.

"How are we going to find our way back?" Kat asked. Not being followed was a good thing, but making it back to the court would be even better. She wanted to get back before summer, before her parents started to worry, and wandering through the forest for months wasn't part of that plan.

"I don't need a path to find my way out of the woods," Eglamore said. "Besides, any path we left might be gone by the time we returned." He leapt down off a rock and held out a hand to help Kat down as well. She accepted it, and he swung her down easily, quickly enough that she almost giggled. She was too nervous to laugh, but she did smile, and Eglamore grinned at her. "Don't worry," he said again. "I'll bring you back."

Unless he died. The thought seemed to occur to him at the same time as it did to her, and he quickly looked away, hoisting himself back over the rock to help Annie. Now that she was alone, the forest seemed even more forbidding, and Kat wrapped her arms around herself. He would be back soon. He and Annie would join her, and they would be able to keep moving. She didn't have to worry about a thing, because the people who were there to protect her wouldn't be gone for long.

Her attempts at reassuring herself didn't do much to calm her when a white shadow appeared beside her. She jumped and yelped before realizing that it was just Reynardine. He had approached her silently, and he touched his nose gently to her hand.

"I didn't mean to scare you," he said.

"It's okay." She ruffled his fur gently, and he grinned up at her. "This place is just spooky."

"I don't like it either," Reynardine said. "I hope we'll be able to get out of here soon." He padded a few steps away from her and sniffed the ground. "This place is dangerous."

"Can't you lead us out of here?" Kat asked. "Eglamore said that you know the forest best. Is there a safer place we can go?" She hadn't thought there would be mist in the middle of the day, and her first thought was that it had to be something to do with magic. That was something else she would have to learn about; she didn't know nearly enough about magic to be involved in this sort of mission.

"I'm afraid there aren't very many safe places we can go from here," Reynardine said. "After you pass the edge of the forest, it becomes more and more dangerous. Even the places that look safe are deadly."

Kat shuddered again. She hadn't even left a note for her parents, she realized. They would have no idea where she was or what she was doing. All they knew was that she had vanished. When she returned – if she returned – they would be worried about her, and she would have to try to explain everything. They'd have to believe her, especially since she would have two other people to share her story. If she didn't make it back, then they'd have to hear about what would happen from someone else.

For the first time in her life, she wished she would die well.

"Trust me," Reynardine whispered, just before Eglamore leapt down to join them and swung Annie off the rock. As a group of four, they moved on.


End file.
